Derivation
by Tigressa101
Summary: How did Tigressa and her siblings become who they are now? And why does it tie in with Cybertron and its citizens? Find out what drove her to be the sadistic monster she is, how the Fallen disappeared without a trace, and how Kanjis crumbled into a dark war alongside its planetary brother. Pre-Among the Gods. Warning: character deaths in later chapters.
1. Prologue

Prologue

* * *

><p>Queen Kiara grew impatient for once. It was her first time giving birth and the twins were reluctant to participate in their leave. Her claws had drug across the berth multiple times in agony while the doctors tried to calm her.<p>

A majority of them were Rozarian, but only two were female. One of her most trusted Rozarian friend, Koana, was given the task to retrieve the babies as they came out. She was as tough as rock and very understanding when it came to many womanly chores, like giving birth, considering she had already done it several times herself.

"My Queen, you need to push more. Take a deep breath and push as you exhale," a Rozarian doctor said next to Koana.

"I'm trying! **Espa-aka no patorani sega!**" The Queen desperately shouted.

Some of the assisting doctors looked at each other when she said those harsh words. Koana merely shrugged her language off and replied, "Don't be afraid, it's only hormones and stress. You boys wouldn't understand."

Next to her, holding the Queen's grasping hands, King Kronos sat beside his mate and for once, had to fear something, for stillborn births and losing one's mate was the worst that could happen. He hoped it would not come to that.

Koana's ears perked up when she noticed it was time. "Oh mama, one's coming and it looks like you, Mistress."

That didn't help. The Queen was too indulged in pain; she didn't care at the moment. She wanted them out and fast. King Kronos was also in discomfort, for his hands were being crushed by hers. A death grip more like it. He had his teeth clamped shut to where pressure added to the throbbing grief he already had to deal with.

After an hour of dreadful hell, both sparklings were born, and the King had a chance to nurture his hands which he was sure had some broken parts now. Kiara was in tears but had a tender smile upon her strained face. It was finally over.

In front of them, Koana held the two cooing babies while one had wrapped its tail upon her wrist. As she handed them to their awaiting parents, she let a few tears fall herself before wiping them away and returning to bossing around the doctors. The King just gave a disapproving shake of the head.

In the Queen's servos rested a femme that looked practically like her as Koana pointed out before. The only difference was the sparkling had an orange, black, and white coloring while Kiara had a white and dark blue scheme. The red-yellow eyes of the nymph appeared so innocent yet strangely deadly at the same time, unlike her own that was pink.

The mech of the twins was held by his sire who noted the little version of him had a black and red coloring rather than black and white. Tiny stubs were visible on his back, head, tail, and even his shoulders. Horns and spikes no doubt, but he knew in a couple of years they'd look more pronounced. The baby dragon purred as he rubbed against the King's palm, gently biting one of his fingers with only two formed bumps of teeth.

"What will you name them, my dear?" Prometheus questioned as he cradled the sparkling boy in his arms.

The Queen thought for a moment before setting her eyes back on the femme who was nibbling on her tail. "I think her name will be Tigressa; Tigressa Kronos." Steadily, she peered towards the now sleeping mech in her mate's grasp. "And he looks like one of Primus' bounty hunters, the Demons. Yes, Demon. His name will be Demon Kronos."

Kronos himself smirked, "Alright the, Demon, welcome to your new home."

Suddenly, Kiara gasped which alerted the doctors and nurses instantly. When the King faced her, she had a concerned, frightened expression that made him raise a brow before studying his daughter.

"Honey," the Queen whispered, "does Demon have his teeth yet?"

Confused, he checked, "Only two tiny ones, but no. Why?"

"Tigressa has hers; several rows of them. They're fully formed but miniature. Is that natural?"

King Kronos placed Demon in the hands of an awaiting nurse beside him and went to his wife. There he saw what she noticed. She was right. Sharp, jagged incisors layered his sparkling's mouth. A wave of fear rose within him, for both knew not if this had happened before, but Kronos knew it definitely wasn't normal. Never has any sparkling been recorded with such a phenomenon, but was sure it was for a reason.

A few doctors believed it was bad juju. Since they were Rozarian, things like this were usually presented as such by a witch doctor. Witch doctors were more respected than the normal ones. The inhabitants of Rozaria believed they were invincible, wise, and the gate keepers to the elemental and spiritual world. Whether they were truly all that or not wasn't investigated. Then again, the King honored their ways nonetheless.

Raimo, the shaman from Koana's tribe, happened to be on Kanjis during the Queen's pregnancy and when the time came, he gladly accepted the King's request to look over Tigressa.

The twins were presented to the witch doctor, and both the shaman and the sparklings smiled at each other. "Oh my children, what do you have that's so bad?"

Raimo cooed at Tigressa who in return gave him a toothy grin. He paused to examine her fangs, and slowly, his smile faded. "Your Highness, this…this is a grave sign. This child is cursed!"

King Kronos rushed to his side, "How can that be?"

The shaman shook his head dreadfully, "I sense a soul of a monster inside her that cannot be removed, for it is a part of her now! If you allow her to grow with her twin and any other children you have in the future, she will destroy them in time. I'm sorry, but she is a bad seed in your family."

"What can we do?"

"The only thing you two can do is hope that I am wrong, or slay her before time runs out."

King Kronos' face lit up with terror and anger, "I will not slaughter my flesh and blood! I will, however, keep an eye on her and make sure this theory does not become a prophecy she must face. I refuse to harm her!"

Raimo sighed, "It is your choice but do not heed my warning as a delusion of my age. Whatever lies within her may try to corrupt her beyond our healing abilities, and if that happens, in time, she will become lost to all of us."

He pointed a battered claw at the King, "You must prevent her from getting any ideas that will spark an evil paradigm to her rule, if you give her the throne or not. I fear her dark guise will strike when it feels you are weak enough to fail to protect your true daughter, and it will lead her to a fate that may be the downfall of you and your mate."

Prometheus didn't respond as he was trying to absorb every detail of the shaman's words. "I will do what I can."

"What if what you can do isn't enough? Then what will you do?" Raimo muttered quietly as he held Demon. He glanced over to Tigressa who was asleep, curled on her mother's lap.

The King did the same, observing the little striped form, "I don't know."

He didn't want to think about murdering his child, but at the same time, he was scared that what the witch doctor said would be inevitable. What would he do? He couldn't get himself to consider killing his baby, nor would he hire somebody to do it like a coward. But he also had to face the truth; if Tigressa was the monster his friend claimed her to be, he couldn't let her continue on with her destructive life. He couldn't do anything, against her or for her. Only time would tell.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Alright, this is the origin story people apparently wanted about Tigressa and how she found her way to Earth plus how she meets Optimus, etc., etc. Some things I want to point out, Koana and Raimo will be frequent characters and I'll explain what part they have in Captain Silos' life. Also, Tigressa's fate is already revealed and you probably knew it too but remember, there is a chain of events that leads to what she becomes, a monster, so don't expect any major battling or romance.<strong>

**There will be more characters that I'll explain later as well including the Fallen and Kor who will be appearing (I'll tell you how Kor gets to the Eco Dimension to start the infamous chain reaction of the Jak and Daxter Trilogy).**

**Last thing, as you can guess, King Kronos made a big error. You won't believe what that'll do to him in later chapters before Tigressa's betrayal.**

**I own all characters except Kor and the brief Cybertronian based appearances within the story.**


	2. A Typical Childhood

Growing up was quick and easy, surprisingly, but King Kronos kept his promise to Raimo and watched over Tigressa. He memorized every event that happened before she reached adulthood.

During the sparkling era, he remembered she loved to steal food from the kitchens. How she did it was simple but unexpected for a nymph: she used strategy and cleverness. Whenever the treats were relocated, she would think up several spots where they could be. Using the obstacles around her, she always found a way to reach them. A majority of the time she guessed correctly, sometimes it took longer, but she still got her food one way or another.

The youngling era proved more difficult for him to manage her because her senses increased tenfold as did her natural abilities and reflexes. He literally almost got killed by his own shadow because she didn't know her powers well enough yet. It took five solar cycles to figure out how to put the shadows with their original owners as well as keep them linked with the possessors.

But, at this time, both she and Demon gained two new sets of siblings within twenty years: Blossom and Poltergeist; ElectroHyena and Spirit. Demon was fine with his new family members; Tigressa was skeptical, however, and usually pushed the sweet Blossom away. ElectroHyena was just as stubborn as the striped youngling so they got along quite well. Poltergeist and Spirit stayed closer to Demon, afraid that Tigressa would hurt them.

The "scout" years gave way to a more energetic, righteous Tigressa which made Prometheus proud and full of hope that the shaman was wrong after all. She received an elegant pair of identical swords as a gift for moving up to Scout within a few months after the youngling stages were over. He had to admit she was scary in training and personally felt sorry for whoever was chosen to be her sparring partner.

At the same time a few things took place, the first was the birth of Firefox and Entity, another set of twins. The second was that Tigressa liked the politics that took place on Kanjis and also took a liking to the planet's trading buddy, Cybertron, which was inhabited by bots that didn't have animal-like features. She began developing new ideals for trade that made Kanjis' wealth and goods sky-rocket to the top as well as invent new military tactics using the elements to their advantage. It worked but the King began noticing she was becoming arrogant through her ingenious ways.

At the end of the "scout" term, Kalypso and Ghost were born. At this point, the doctors literally yelled at him to stop having kids. When the original set, Tigressa and Demon, came into their world, it was a struggle to survive. Now it was taking a toll on everybody. Koana couldn't keep watch of more than three and the others proved hard to predict. But he couldn't help it. He loved his Queen and of course, lust and possessiveness always took over at some point, whether it was planned or completely by surprise.

When the "warrior" years arrived, Tigressa had the strength that rivaled his own and a sharp, well premeditated processor that seemed impossible to fool. Her powers flourished with her mind and her skills forced him to reconsider how he would do Plan B if it came to that. A worthy opponent, but perhaps too powerful for even him. Unlike the other girls, Tigressa had visible masculine armor though it was found mostly on her back, arms, and legs. She still had a normal curved waist like her mother but everything else was very pronounced muscle-wise.

All her black spikes added a vivid massive, scary tone to her appearance that was recognizably from his side of the family. She was obviously a mix of both his and his mate's figure which made his uncertainty about her allegiance rise. Her tail did the trick for most after seeing her in general. Her hostile looks alone made most enemies run but the large, dragon-like tail made the rest cower before her. She did look like a monster as Raimo said.

It was towards the end of her "warrior" stages where he saw her acting strangely. Now the question was: will she begin acting like the creature Raimo foretold?

* * *

><p>"Tigressa, no! No, no, no! If you continue this madness and we get caught, I'll kill you!"<p>

Tigressa merely laughed at the thought, "Yeah, like I'm scared of my brother who couldn't even beat me at the Seven Hundred Thrash and Crash Tournament! Hell, I'm not even scared of the Captain of the Royal Guards. A Rozarian vs. a Kanjian; that's going to end well."

Demon rolled his eyes and scoffed, "You're the cockiest, daring femme I've met thus far! I will actually give you three-fourths of my Energon reserves for a year if you pull this off!"

The tiger-dragon began scaling the wall with her thick tail swinging loosely. Her optics locked onto their target: her father's staff that was placed in the Trophy Tower by none other than the Captain himself, Ceros Silos. The Captain was well aware of the "Bad Princess'" antics, and after talking to the King, he provided Tigressa with a challenge.

Not one to shy away from a good game, Tigressa accepted and was given the chance to steal the staff without getting caught. The problem was, however, that her weight and figure made stealth nearly impossible. A soldier could see her from a few miles away despite she'd look like an orange speck, plus she was heavy enough to where being silent wasn't an option. It was almost a lose-lose situation, but those factors never stopped her before.

Demon watched carefully as she continued to reach the tower, straining his neck to force his head upward at a ninety-degree angle. The only thing he could really see other than the tall structure was her semi-dull spiked spine and the tail itself.

Being on the verge of being counted as full grown still had its ups and downs, and one of the downsides was you still had features similar to that of a child's. Although their voices had deepened and their bodies had grown to their full height, their bodily spikes weren't entirely sharp and thick yet, which was possible to lower your chances of intimidation.

"Hey, your fat ass in covering my view of you progress! I suggest you try to lose the expansion in your hips before I lose sight of own two suns as well!" Demon shouted. He had to move his head once in a while for the purpose he exclaimed. Tigressa didn't take too well to his mockery.

"Shut up! You try being a femme for a day; this is normal for us, you wouldn't last a minute in our frame!"

"No thank you! I like my slim hips. These give me more adjustable movements!"

Growling, Tigressa continued upward until she reached the window where the staff lay untouched. She delicately closed her jaws around the metal and slowly pulled it off its stand. Getting it through the window was easy enough, but as she began to climb down, she realized one wrong move could make that staff into a weapon that could severely injure her. Too late.

Her claws sank into the metal tower as she started to slide down it with no control. It slowed her a little but she still hit the roof below with a loud thud. She swore she heard over five things break in the process of landing. A sound similar to thunder also made its vocal debut when she crashed down. If nobody heard that, it would be known as the "Miracle of Thunder".

As she got up, a visible miniature crater was left of her spot. She'd bet in the room below her, an unusual dip in the ceiling would catch someone's attention if the thunderous landing didn't. So much destruction in one day and it was barely morning.

"Nice going, Canari, way to rock the castle," Demon mused.

Canari was a frequent term to describe a klutz or a fool. Why? Simple, the one who was known for being the lout of the city was a bot named Canari.

He became the town jester and was mocked constantly for having no skills and always screwing everything he did up. Bullying at its finest happened against him. He apparently disappeared after a while which brought out two popular theories. The first was he moved away, which was rejoiced and the most reasonable. The second was he committed suicide, which was…good…to some people…who the King resented gravely for mocking Canari in such a way. Plus, lack of evidence proved otherwise.

Personally, King Kronos shunned those who used the poor bot's name as an insult but he merely punished his children by restricting their rights to certain things they enjoyed the most for a seven solar cycles.

"Yeah, yeah, I messed up. It happens, plus don't tell me you haven't done the same before!" Tigressa snarled.

"Uh, falling from a tower with that much speed with a staff in my mouth that looked like it was going to stab me at any given minute? Nope, never happened. Congratulations, you're the first!"

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING!?" A voice bellowed behind them.

"Oh, uh…hey, Koana. We were just…um…"

Interrupting his stuttering, the plump, curvy Rozarian female replied, "I've looking all over for you two! Eclipse and Phantasmos have just fallen asleep so I finally have time to search for you, and you're parents have been concerned about you since you didn't show up for the Blue Sun Festival!"

Tigressa and Demon looked at each in in shock. Demon began again, "That was today! I-I thought it was moved to **Quartia**! Oh man, Mom and Dad are going to hang our hides over the fireplace!"

"Damn straight!" Koana gestured, "And what is that in your hand, Princess Chaos?"

"This?" Tigressa pointed sourly at the staff, "This is just an item I…'borrowed' for a few days."

Looking at her innocent smile with disbelief, the Rozarian snorted, "Is that so? Well, either return your daddy's stick back where you found it or I tell him what you've done before and after you retrieved it!"

"You wouldn't do that," Tigressa said as she narrowed her eyes.

Koana smirked, "Try me, Sweetspark."

Hissing bitterly, she stalked back to the roof. But she stopped as Koana called her again. "Hey, there's a thing called stairs. I suggest you use them," she sassily remarked.

Demon snickered as he watched his twin storm off through the doors.

"As for you, get your spiked ass back inside before we have a three-legged race to the infirmary!" Koana threatened with her spikes raised.

The large dragon continued laughing but chased after Tigressa just in case the Rozarian decided to go get them, and he refused to be on the receiving end of her clever might. Koana may have not been the strongest Rozarian to live, but when she made a threat, she meant it and she usually did it.

* * *

><p>Tigressa ate a few delicacies before walking into his father's throne room because in her mind, food allowed her to survive his lectures on what to do and what not do. Obviously, the lecture would be on what no to do which took longer than the former.<p>

When she opened the massive white metal doors, Ceros was there to greet her, leaning casually against a fire-engraved pillar. "Getting into more trouble, I hear? You really need to stop pissing your father off! He's ranting about how you 'didn't show up'. How you 'neglected your duties to the kingdom'. Do you want him to kick your ass!?"

Tigressa patted the Rozarian Guard on his blue-silver semi-spiked head, "I'll survive, and don't worry so much. Besides, he hasn't hurt me before, what makes you think he'd do it now?"

Ceros pinched the bridge of his snout, "He didn't do it before because he was afraid of actually injuring you, but now, it'll take more than just him to do it. He'd need an entire army to bring your lazy ass down!"

Tigressa gave him a disapproving look along with a raised brow. But before she could retaliate, the doors next to the two thrones unlocked and a really angry-looking King was the only thing visible through the archway.

Nervously, Silos moved into a bowing pose as Prometheus took his seat, but Tigressa just glared at her father, knowing full well he couldn't do anything about her manners towards him. The King looked like he had gotten hit by an Elenia Sea Dragon at a high speed. His eyes seemed more pronounced than usual and Tigressa swore one of his fangs was twisted weirdly.

"Tigressa, step forward!" He roared.

The tiger-dragon flinched at her name but showed no sign of what she considered "weakness" as she approached the large, white cathedra. She made it to the bottom-most step before kneeling before him. "What do you seek from my attention, Father?"

Smoke blew from his nostrils as he peered down upon his daughter, "You have sorely disobeyed me. I told both you and your twin that you were the hosts for the Blue Sun Festival, but you didn't show! Several cities' inhabitants came from all corners of the globe to participate and enjoy the harmony we have with each other, but you embarrassed me in front of my entire kingdom by showing them my future successors are indolent, self-indulgent, crude creatures who can't even respect my good-natured events!"

Tigressa wanted to snarl but it came out like low whimper. She turned her head slightly away from the King and replied, "I'm sorry, Sire."

"'Sorry' will not save you this time, my child. You have disgraced yourself and now new gossip has flooded my streets that you will doom us all if I were to give the throne to you. Don't you think that makes me look bad alone? Your dear mother is getting complaints left and right about you and how my family was never fit to rule a planet. You have no concept of the trouble you've put yourself and your family through. It'll be a marvel if we can get everyone to give you another chance," Kronos groaned.

"I am too old to be dealing with this…this dilemma, and I certainly cannot stay and face an…an uprising against us! You will fix it yourself, or mark my words, Tigressa, you will meet the terrible side of me and the people!"

"I understand, but why do you cower at a simple riot? You can't be afraid, can you?" Tigressa hissed.

That did it. Prometheus instantly rose from his chair and walked down the steps until he was ground-level with her, a frown sketched on his black face and snout. "I do not cower. If I must fight, I will. But I prefer Phantasmos and Eclipse not to grow up in such a hateful environment, so if it does come to war, I'd much rather stand down than show my little ones violence! I will not corrupt them!"

Instead of feeding the already burning fire of their argument, Tigressa didn't say anything and solemnly bowed before turning away and leaving.

Silos watched everything unfold from a distance, but backed to the side when the large femme stormed past him. In the corner of his eye, Kronos did the same but in the opposite direction to sit back down. As she left, the Captain moved to his King's side.

"Young adults. You can never expect them to listen or behave, can you?"

The King slouched back a little before twirling his returned staff in his claws. "What am I going to do with her? I can't reason with her; I can't even look at her without her shunning me and my logic. It's like she wants to be what Raimo prophesied despite every path I open for her."

"On my planet, if a child did as such, he or she would be locked inside their home with their family until they learned what they failed to properly address like manners, chores, etcetera," Silos mused.

Kronos gave him an unreadable expression, "Your children aren't too difficult to put under lock and key. If I trapped Tigressa in her room and strained her to be respectful, she'd go insane and break down the walls within one night! She has my strength and you've seen what I can do at my prime; she'd destroy everything until she calmed down or grew bored of annihilating all that stood in her way!"

"Really? So may I ask where the stubbornness and cleverness comes from?"

"All that comes from her mother's side of the family. I have no idea how to conquer those traits yet; I leave them up to my wife to deal with. I remember when Kiara was just as crafty and mighty as Tigressa. Man, did she put up a good fight whenever we were talking about a specific subject. She always proved me wrong until I showed her who the strongest wrestler was, which turned into…"

Silos cleared his throat and whistled innocently as his eyes roamed the ceiling awkwardly.

"Um…sorry. But, yeah, I'm not powerful enough to clash with my daughter. Like I said, I tried persuading her to do other things, but she just would not listen! Maybe I've become too soft."

The Captain grinned, "Perhaps I could try and debate with her. You know how the annual Rozarian Galupus Hunting Season starts next week, until the tenth of **Sephurem**?

"Yes, I go to it on Rozaria every solar cycle to help fund the event. Why?"

"Well, how about I bring Tigressa pursuing with me and talk to her? Call it 'bonding time' with your daughter. She remembers going before. Why not let her express whatever she is holding inside on the Galupus that we're trying to prey on? It may open her mind a little. I mean, a small dash of fresh air is sometimes all a person needs to get something off of their chest. What do you say to that?"

King Kronos raised one of his ears while the other remained at a not-so-sure position. "Alright, I guess. I trust you. But don't let anything about what Raimo said slip into your conversations. If she finds out what he predicted, she may get the wrong ideas. Get the drift?"

"Don't worry, Your Highness. I promise I'll do my best to fix whatever ails you."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Quartia is the Kanjian equivalent to a Friday while Sephurem is the name of a month. Galupus as you can guess is the term for a species of animal that thrives on Rozaria.<strong>


	3. Conception

Blossom was tending her personal garden slash bedroom when Tigressa rushed through it, clearly enraged. In order to get to her own room, Tigressa had to go through her siblings' which were attached to each other via two doors that linked to one of the other's chambers. Each room was built specifically for one's powers and passions.

For instance, Tigressa's was built to have black lights and the element of darkness looming over every piece of furniture. It was like a cave with translucent thorns on everything to bear a resemblance to her own dark, sharp nature. Usually the colors were a dark purple throughout the room but there were some highlights of red. Demon's quarters were similar but red with a portal that sort of was his mirror. He fed on the fears of others, much to their father's dislike.

Blossom and Poltergeist had literal mini forests as their rooms while ElectroHyena was given an up top room so she could manipulate the lightning and power herself with its charge. Spirit's chamber was directly connected with his twins because their parents felt the weather-based children had a problem with the ground rooms. Firefox and Entity shared one that had special barriers to prevent the waterfall and pool of lava that streamed down a cliff next to the castle from scorching the rest of the siblings' stuff as well as the kingdom in general.

Kalypso's room was filled with many enchantments that could do more than just turn you into something else. In fact, Tigressa marveled at her powers and proposed an idea for a new element tagged with the combination of her abilities and her younger sister's. Ghost had a ghostly chamber where he could contact the deceased. That proved to freak their mother out greatly. Lastly, Eclipse and Phantasmos had water and ice-based chambers though the dragon boy's room had its own library as well as several inventions.

Each twin had a room linked to their partner's, in style, element, and color. But, Tigressa chose to ignore the details.

Going through Ghost's room didn't faze her and when a physical demon tried to lunge at her, she punched it back into the wall entrance to the Underworld. Ghost apparently didn't care, for just remained in a crossed leg Zen pose, not even acknowledging her.

Finally, she reached her own chambers and began pacing furiously. Her mind was in shambles and hatred, but that immediately formed a raging migraine after a few rounds of walking back and forth. "Why couldn't he just host the damn festival himself? He can't, oh, he can't. He's too scared! He fears everybody will turn on him and crush him from all sides!"

Suddenly, she froze. "If he can no longer manage a simple task, then why should he be the ruler of a complex world? This planet needs a new leader, one strong and powerful enough to prove Kanjis isn't full of weak idiots! Kanjis needs to be under new supervision."

"Still talking to yourself? You ought to know better since Dad will most likely be listening to our conversations," a voice purred behind her.

Tigressa turned to glare at the sibling who interrupted her thoughts, "Demon, what do you suggest I do? Everywhere I turn I feel I'm surrounded by imbeciles! Might as well talk in the one place no one suspects yet!"

Demon frowned, "Imbeciles? Since when did you become a good judge of character? In fact, did you not consider our staff stunt reckless?"

"It's not that, it's just he can't see I'm well aware of what I'm doing and for a reason. I chose to accept Silos' challenge; therefore it is not my fault! Besides, lately our dear father has decided to play God behind our backs. Don't you think that's reason enough to show him we will not obey someone who uses their powers so blandly?"

The black and red dragon arched a brow, "So you're saying he's becoming a God but he has no concept of actually being one and you do? How did you even find out about this?"

Tigressa smirked, "He unknowingly showed me a few weeks back. He revealed that a new planet has formed along with six others and a dwarf planet that got caught in its sun's gravitational field. When he notified me of that, I did some quick thinking and it hit me; he's been planning to experiment behind our backs. If he wants to play that game, then I'll be the new opponent in this competition.

"As for me trying to be a God, all I can say is its physically impossible, but mentally, that's an entire different story. In order to get close to any sort of God status, one must learn the ability of manipulation, cleverness, deception, all the major factors that our minds cannot comprehend alone. I have mastered some of these, but I fear it will not be enough. Nobody can be a God if a God already exists. Primus is one, yes, but he's only a spiritual God, but there is no physical God, not yet at least.

"I plan on simply beating our father at this fixture he's naïvely pulled us into. If it's a God he wants and or wants to be, then we must show him one already lives. And I have a notion that'll blow his ideas clear out of the water!"

Demon's frown didn't move from its downgraded U shape. Either he wasn't a fan of her thoughts, or he just stayed that way just because. "Tigressa, this isn't a game like you think. Creation is a gift that can be good or bad depending on who holds the power to do so in their hands. Our father is only trying to discover something lost or new that no one has ever thought about, but you on the other hand are only doing this to upstage him. Whatever you're scheming to mold into your plans will either backfire or destroy us! You cannot wield a power you know nothing about!"

"Oh?" The tiger-dragon rattled her spine menacingly, "And you are going to stop me? What if you're wrong and I save us?"

"I'll be waiting for it, and if it doesn't come like you hope it will, I'll be on the other side, laughing as your mind spirals down into oblivion from your sickening madness."

Her optics flashed a dangerous shade of red but calmed as she closed her eyes and shook her head, "You best choose your side wisely. Knowing me, I will fight you, and I plan on winning."

Demon huffed before turning to leave. He was unsure how his sister intended to create new life, but he had a feeling it wasn't a method he would like.

Suddenly, he heard the doors behind him open again and Tigressa stood before him, with a scowl upon her face. "I'm not done talking to you, brother."

He didn't say anything and waited for her to continue.

"We need to discuss something I might need your help with."

* * *

><p>Queen Kiara smiled as she cooked with her chefs in the seventeen-roomed kitchen. Since there were so many inhabitants that lived in the castle alone, two kitchens weren't enough and one room was going to work. Plus, the Royal Guards, native techno-organics under Silos' command, helped her manage the kitchen.<p>

The thing most people learned about Kiara was that she hated the terms "servant" and "slave". It disgusted her that people actually used others in those ways in other systems. No slavery or equality was permitted on Kanjis as long as she was still alive. She would pause to calm herself down after someone used one of those words before she continued the conversation with them. She never stressed her "helpers" nor did she allow them to go without pay. That's what most loved about her.

The Guards saw her as their own mother figure and treated her like they would normally do unless she insisted for them to break their ways. In return, the Guards as well as others persisted on helping her with everything. If she knew she couldn't do something by herself, she always asked anybody around her. If they declined, she respected them and asked another; but then again, nobody ever did reject unless they had something extremely important to do.

Another thing to note was that the Queen always wants to do things herself like cooking everyone's meals. She felt she was overworking the chefs so she insisted she let them have somewhat of a break. She was the most respectful, selfless person anybody knew. The only child that inherited that from her was Blossom and somewhat Firefox.

The Guards claimed her to be an angel given to them by Primus himself. Others believed she represented the light that made everything living possible. Both seemed true.

"My Queen," a Kanjian Guard bowed, "the Council has gathered at the banquet and await your arrival. What should I tell them?"

"Just tell them I'm cooking, plain and simple. They should know by now that I always do this," the Queen giggled as she added spices to the sauce she was preparing for a Bolter Ragna Roast.

"Yes, My Lady." He bowed again before going through the exit that lead to the dining chambers where the feast was.

The Guards, a majority of the staff, and a large amount of citizens were Kanjians, techno-organics whose relative species lived on Cybertron, Velocitron, Junkion, and a few other worlds. Their planet was the only place the techno-organic population thrived because plants, organic animals, and water were key elements they needed to survive. Energon crystals fed off of energy from each of the elements while water housed sea-based Kanjians and the animals served as livestock and food for them. Unlike there Cyber-brethren, they ate mostly organic stuff because their stomachs could convert the organic things into another type of Energon.

Rozarians came from the same system they did but some moved to Kanjis for different reasons, some unknown. They assumed the rhino-like aliens moved there because they found work much more plentiful. Kanjis was a planet that had enough things to do, so very rarely was anyone jobless. If someone was, they usually found another within a week.

Finally, dinner was served. Kiara came out first with two trays full of food with butlers trailing behind her holding the other trays. They each bowed as they served the Council members who wagged their tails at the scent of the food. The Kronos children sat with their father on the other end of the long crescent table. There were two tables that faced one another. One table had the King, his children, and the Council members. The other sat the various leaders across the nation, some military, some non.

The Captain of the Royal Guards was among the second, talking to one of the trade leaders whose business was mostly with Velocitron. The King smiled at that, but it was soon erased when he noticed both Tigressa's and Demon's seats were empty. He had a suspicion it was Tigressa's doing.

"Eclipse, where's your sister and brother?"

The almost-youngling femme cooed with a soft voice, "She's probably practicing her skills. She tends to do that a lot lately. As for Demon, I don't know, Daddy."

Kronos grew even more concerned, "And if she isn't training?"

That question made the blue and white cat think. "Um…I guess Big Sis is in her room, talking to herself about…something. I don't know what she does. I don't keep track what she says, does, or bothers to find and mention. Sometimes I think she's hiding something, like she's scared or vulnerable."

"Hiding, huh? That would explain her recent disturbing behavior. Anything else she may have…mentioned? Like were there any words that confused you?"

"Um…she did say something about 'creation' like I guess she wants to be creative but she fears you may dislike it."

King Kronos blew smoke from his nostrils again but with a worried expression on his face. "I'll see what I can do. Thank you, Sweetspark."

"You're welcome, Daddy!"

With that, she began eating her portion of a Karim Shrimp Casserole she shared with her twin. Two wee devils, they were whenever they did something against one of their siblings. Phantasmos always figured out a strategy in his head on how to do something and Eclipse was the one who carried it out. She was like a miniature version of Tigressa, just not rotten.

The doors to the dining room opened with two large figures strolling in like they owned the place. Make that one because the mech seemed downtrodden. "Father, I hope you bear us no ill will for our late appearance. Demon and I were discussing…'impediments'…within our special project we've come up with."

The King brought one clawed hand to rub his face sleepily, "Oh Tigressa, what will I ever do with you. I'm glad you have an idea but you need to stop slacking in your duties. You've rejected your lessons you were supposed to take; you're late at every event now, what's gotten into you?"

"Back to that, are we? Look, I have problems of my own. I don't need you bugging me about every single thing I do. I'm late now, but I'll straighten up once I figure out how to solve my problem, okay? Can we just let it go for a couple days?"

Prometheus exhaled smoke again before sighing, "Fine. Just, at least, try to make it every once in a while."

She muttered something incomprehensible but sat down next to her mother's vacant chair. Speaking of her mother, Tigressa raised a brow as she watched her carrier offer food to the Guards before taking her rightful spot.

"Hello, my dear. I haven't spoken to you in a while. I'm sorry."

Tigressa never found any reason to be mad about her mother. The woman was as innocent as a newborn Shije, a beautiful whale that had golden-silver skin and orange eyes, but she was as strong as an adult one when she wanted to be.

"It's no problem, Mom. Never was much of a talker," she lied.

Demon gave a short snort as if to say "yeah right". The tiger-dragon returned with a glare and the grinding of teeth.

"Oh, Tigressa, I need to tell you something," Kiara said with a kind-hearted smile that would melt anybody's spark.

"Yeah?"

"Your father will be bringing you to a planet he's been 'remodeling' for the past several million years in a system accessible by Space Bridge. A lot of Cybertronians have stored Energon on there but his priority is for you to help him complete something he hasn't finished on that world."

She looked to her father, bewildered. The King sighed at the same time.

Kiara continued, "I think it's time you get to know your father a bit more. After you hunt with Silos in a couple of days on Rozaria, Prometheus will take you to the sauropod planet."

Both father and daughter eyed each other but said nothing. He simply nodded while she grumbled behind his back. She didn't like the fact she had to be around him more than usual, but when her project finally takes effect, she'd not have to worry about that anymore.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: This is the boring chapter of the story. Yeah, not all stories are based off of fighting and action in general, but as you have read or skipped entirely, Tigressa's plan is already a factor. What it is sort of molds with the story itself. You'll see what happens to the characters and small spoiler: Kor will make his presence soon but not as who you think.<strong>


	4. Chasing a Delusion

The Galupus clawed the ground fiercely, jumping over rocks, plants, and the bulbous yellow energy warts that littered the planet. It stumbled slightly as it slid around a tree to head South-East.

The warts pulsed whenever they sensed another living thing among them and would sprout gold flowers around it for animals and other inhabitants of Rozaria to feed on. The flowers produced a sticky energetic slime that had vitamins no other organism had. They also helped fend off unwanted bugs by releasing a toxic gas only the bugs could breathe and die from. Where they came from or how they spread was unknown though ancient texts described it as a living being trapped within a grounded bubble that if popped, killed the area it resided in which left a blackened forest about fifty yards wide.

The Galupus strained its six legs as it maneuvered around obscured obstacles in its path. The four front legs were the power-equivalent to its back legs, giving it a stunning ninety-two miles per hour top speed. Color varied depending on the gender; red and orange for female, brown and black for males. They supported a mixture of designs that ranged from mere speckles to large blobs that covered an entire limb. The female always had the fancy designs to attract males.

The animal was considered a great adversary when it came to hunting. Its speed wasn't the only thing that made it deadly in the game; its strength when cornered was meant to tackle anything that dared to cross it. If you got caught under its eight claws that formed an almost-complete ring on its foot, your life could be gone in mere seconds and to add to it, those who survive usually have to deal with the poison its appendages generate when it tore through the skin or metal of its victim.

Its snout had several blue barbed limbs that attached to its jaw that created the same poison found in its claws and spikes that lined the side of its body. Its form was a combination of a horse's and a cow's that supported a thin but strong dolphin-like tail. Its size was roughly thirty-five feet tall and sixty-three feet from snout to the tip of its end tail spikes.

It slowed a little to check its surrounding when something crashed through the trees behind it. Growing agitated and scared, it fled faster than its previous sprint. Claws flung dirt and grass into the air, hoping to blind its predator enough to make a clean getaway. It wasn't working, and it knew this wasn't one of its normal hunters.

Tigressa felt uneasy as she ran on all fours but it was better than two, for four had numerical advantages such as grounding and speed. Though her species was renowned for their agility as well as their mobility on four legs, or more, she couldn't help but pant, for she hadn't done such a thing for some time. But she was not one to lose, and her prey was close enough to where if she coordinated her attack right, she'd bring back her fifth Galupus that would tie her with her now-first place opponent, Sephtis.

Sephtis was a five time champion at hunting and had received second place other times for being only one Galupus short of tying with the other winners. Dark, dangerous, and devious, he was a Rozarian that nobody underestimated. He respected his opponents nonetheless but if he wanted to, he could sabotage them instantly. He was known to find weaknesses of his opponents and used said weakness against them when the time was right. It was a move Tigressa had admiration for; she already knew somewhat how to do it, but with more training, she could master it in no time.

The Galupus seemed to regenerate energy faster than she could, for there were no signs that it had depleted any. As a barricade of several broken trees on top one another forced the animal to change tracks to go around it, Tigressa leapt over the fallen trunks and skimmed her prey's back enough to make it trip.

Watching it cartwheel over a few objects made a smile appear on her face and finally, she stood above it, pinning it down with her clawed pede in victory. She bent down to snap its neck and carried it back to the awaiting tables set up to hold each contender's catch. It took a while to reach the podiums, for she had chased the animal a mile or two, but when she did arrive at her stand, Silos was there, smirking at her.

"Another one bites the dust, eh, Princess?"

The spikes on her spine flared up with a hiss, "I told you, I hate that title. Just call me by my name; it won't kill you."

"It's a part of your name; I'm supposed to call you that! Well, at least around the citizens of Gemelo and the inhabitants of Kanjis itself. But fine, if you feel comfortable with only 'Tigressa' then you best hope I don't get in trouble for referring to you without it!" His smirk was still present as ever as he studied her recent kill.

"So," Tigressa scowled, "is the five-star champion still beating me or what?"

The Captain shook his head, "No, you're tied with him, and he's been struggling with an alpha bull Galupus he discovered near the lake shore. Probably protecting one of the herds we're chasing, no doubt. Say, you don't mind if I talk to you in private for a few minutes? I highly doubt Sephtis will conquer a bull, knowing bulls will literally fight to the death with everything they've got or until they make sure their offenders are dead. That's enough to kill even you, if you weren't such a skilled hunter."

The tiger-dragon gave him a false smile at his comment before moving towards a pond on the far-end of the event. Ceros followed but turned towards the King who was observing his daughter before nodding at the dragon and running to keep up with the femme.

"Tigressa, something is wrong with you, we all see it, so what's bothering you enough for to become enemies with your own father?"

"Are you serious!? You asked me to come out here to invade my personal dilemma?" She growled, rattling her tail as a warning.

Silos sighed, "Yes, but I can help you. You can trust me. Despite I am very loyal to your father, I swear upon Primus I won't tell him. You know as well as I that I'm bound to my word when I make such a vow."

Lowering her ears for second, she glanced from the ground to him and back again. "I wish to create something of my own design, an energy like no other capable of being sentient, but at the same time dormant until touched. However, recent…uh…events between the King and I have been making me think about it even more. To change one's fate and hold power at the same time; to change my father's visions and creations and use them to form a new era during my upcoming time as the Queen.

"In order to achieve such a risky endeavor, I need him either gone or distracted for some time so I may perfect such a godly tool and train it to obey my every whim!"

Captain Silos was speechless for the longest time before narrowing his eyes at the large femme, "You want to get rid of your own father? A-And create a substance that can change not only one's fate but their entire will? Whatever you wish to accomplish with that is madness! You can't go around screwing with people's lives! It's cruel, unjust!"

"And where will you stand when I ascend the throne? You must pick a side, you and Rozaria, so which will it be? Mine or his!?" Tigressa snarled as she stared down at the alien rhino.

"I-I know you and to be on the receiving end of your future army, whether fueled with whatever corrupt substance you plan on brewing or not, is to face death. **Supt malo ecknatouille!** I shall think about it, but before I make my decision, I want you to promise me you won't harm the Queen, your own mother, whether you truly care for her or not. Promise me that!"

Smoke rose from her nostrils while her eyes darkened. Reluctantly, she said, "I swear upon Primus, I will not hurt her in any way possible. I give you my word."

Peering back up at the tiger-dragon with a cold frown, he began walking back towards the hunting grounds. The frown turned neutral after a few seconds. When the time came, who would he choose? The answer was clouded as was his feelings for the whole situation. The choice was up to him, and one option he was certain would lead to his death.

* * *

><p>The day was zooming to a close with Tigressa and Sephtis still tied. Unfortunately, the battle-worn Rozarian lost the large bull that would've won the competition even if the tiger-dragon tied with him again, for a bull counted as two because of its unusual large, bulky size. Bulls were the ultimate Galupus trophy and an alpha would be worth three times the amount of a normal bull. Luckily, there were so many Galupus on Kanjis and they reproduced with several eggs a liter that it was frowned upon to not attempt to take a bull's life. Kill one bull, and about three more usually were born to take its place in the world.<p>

Since both were the last two hunters, because the others struck out knowing they wouldn't win the grand prize, everyone was on edge and placing bets on who would emerge as the frontrunner. There was one Galupus targeted now and whoever brought it back without losing it to the other competitor would earn the trophy and the leader position in next year's Galupus Hunting Season.

Adrenaline pumped through Tigressa like water flowed through pipes. Her senses went into overtime to pinpoint where her prey was. Sephtis' musk was thick but the faint scent of a Galupus was traceable. The element of surprise wouldn't do much good now, for it would waste precious time and give her opponent the ability to snatch the game before she could.

Every plan she thought of was drowned out by a wave of outcomes, most not in her favor. It was distracting, but true, despite she was closing in on her prey already. To her delight, Sephtis wasn't near her but he was to the North of her, seemingly stalking towards the Galupus just as she was.

Finally, the animal was in her sight, and no endless thoughts plagued her mind anymore as her senses beleaguered her about the Galupus and it only. Her pupils were barely visible slits as she hissed in the brush. Teeth bared, spikes raised, she was ready for anything. Immediately as a shadow blocked her view, she pounced out of the bushes and heard a yelp sound from beneath her as she forced it to the ground with a dust cloud covering her.

Smiling, her three-clawed tail fanned away some of the air-borne dirt to find what she had jumped on was no Galupus. It was Sephtis. Before she could question why he got in the way, four talons raked across her neck as she tried to back away from his strike. Luckily, they weren't deep enough to cause any damage, but it did make Tigressa rear up and stomp her servo into the area he was. He rolled out of the way before she could crush him.

Snarling, Sephtis tricked her into trying to bite him and clawed over the bridge of her nostrils, forcing her to rise up with a deep whimper and reposition herself for an attack. Whipping her tail around, she caught the Rozarian by the chest and slammed him into a few trees, knocking them over. Growling, they collided with Sephtis going under her and biting her ear instantly.

The tiger-dragon roared and whip-lashed her head to swing him around and drag him across the ground. She pounded her head into the dirt surface and successfully detached a few of his nails in the process.

He backed away a little before zigzagging back to hit her head on. The impact stunned both though Tigressa recovered quickly and snapped her jaws around her enemy's back leg. Hauling the Rozarian into the air, she let him fall before bringing her large appendage down onto him. He bellowed in pain but did not break eye contact with the Kanjian femme.

Rule one of fighting, always aim for the head. Apparently, that logic worked in both Kanjian and Rozarian cultures. Tigressa had to admit, Sephtis was true to his own legend. The rhino could fight, though not in the way she preferred.

"You poor fool, why would you risk getting killed?" Tigressa smirked cockily.

Sephtis spit some green blood out before giving a fake grin, "You think I'm the fool? I overheard what you and the Captain were saying. Whatever you're going to do, I suggest using some of the juices from those warts to do it. I heard their properties really ignite a boom in many experiments done recently."

The tiger-dragon raised a brow before lifting her tail off her fellow hunter. "Your deceptive skills need work but your ideas are 'flawless' for sabotage. Tell me, why do you care what I do? Unless you're interested in helping, then I have no business with you."

"Ah, but that's just the beginning. I am very curious about this 'corrupted substance' you wish to create. Light Eco, though rare, already exists, why not form a darker version of that? After all, one must not truly exist without the other. Light Eco already has an opposite, though not powerful like it nor is it an energy, but I know you can pull it off."

He had a point, which was respectable nonetheless, but it was a risky objective. Her smile grew wider, "I thank you for the new idea and I shall allow you aid me on our newfound quest."

She held out her hand to Sephtis who hesitated to take it. "I can also supply you with test subjects for when you complete this mysterious formula." He took it and shook on his promise.

"It's a deal, my dear Sephtis. I shall keep in contact with you, one way or another."

* * *

><p>Sephtis returned with a dead Galupus in hand while strolling up to the podium with a crooked smile. Silos sighed silently but held up the flag that had the Rozarian's initial on it. "Sephtis has won the Annual Galupus Hunting Tournament. He shall be next year's lead hunter…again."<p>

Cheering erupted from the stands at their victor, who bowed gracefully at their applause. While he was raising his trophy high, Tigressa walked towards Silos with dignity. Usually, Tigressa hated losing and the Captain had to admit it was too strange for his liking. With a puzzled look, he asked, "So you gave up the trophy? On purpose or what?"

"I did what I had to do, besides, it's only a game," she replied, moving past him to her father.

Ceros paused as he noticed both Tigressa and Sephtis had scars that didn't match a Galupus' signature attack markings. He narrowed his eyes at the unnatural wounds. Sephtis turned at that moment with a sinful, growling smirk.

* * *

><p>"Tigressa, I must show you something. And bring your sisters; they must see this too," King Kronos motioned as he nodded to one of his lead scientists. A sudden green-blue light awoke among them and the King stared into the grounded swirling vortex with a stern face. The swirling tunnel of vivacity, with its abilities to travel to any planet with a Space Bridge, fed eagerly off the power within the consoles within the room.<p>

Thanks to the Cybertronians, the technology came in handy from time to time and provided a good way to endure in trade with the foreign worlds out there. Cybertron itself was a big exchange tycoon and both planets found each other pleasant.

Tigressa came back with Eclipse on her shoulder and her other sisters awaiting their orders. The wind being thrown about by the vortex didn't affect them, but the light made some put their servos over their optics. "We're ready when you are, Father," Kalypso spoke as she stopped by his side, placing an impatient hand on her hip.

Prometheus turned to the group of girls, "Good, now follow me. This surprise will be the finest one yet. You'll see."

Nobody questioned him as he entered the swirling mass, disappearing after a certain point. The femmes trailed behind him, some exited more than others. When they vanished, the portal closed down with baffled scientists at the entrance.

On the other side, each femme's expression turned unique. But Tigressa's wasn't one of confusion or fear; it was rather one of a bland frown.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hey, a new character has been introduced! Sephtis is someone you already know; if you don't know, then you'll find out. I've hinted enough in the story for you to figure it out. Next chapter, guess what planet their on and what does Tigressa get to do?<strong>


	5. Playing God

The planet's grounding alone was incomplete but unusual Sauropods roamed it like they didn't care. Mountains were floating somewhat off the surface, but hovered over groves they were meant to fit in while rivers supported by drifter rings were guided to the lakes and seas they were meant to connect to. It was a green plant and blue water -covered rock with mindless creatures wandering about. At least, that's how Tigressa summed it up.

Several Saurs she noticed had plates emerging from their back while others had long necks for eating high tree leaves. Smaller Sauropods squealed in herds, stealing eggs and challenging others for their possessions. It seemed prehistoric, untamed, and even time-challenged, but then again, what could you expect from a new world?

"I know it looks unorganized, but that's why I've brought you all here. You are fine keepers of the elements and I need your help putting this world together. The Sauropods won't harm you, nor will they go near you really, except for some, though they tend to get too curious on what we're doing from time to time. That also leads me to you, Tigressa. I have something special I wish you to do," King Kronos said as he let a Brachiosaurus approach him enquiringly.

A sneer took the place of the once-present frown. "And that would be?"

Prometheus sniffed the lock-necked dinosaur, "To simply create a new generation of Sauropods. I've done enough with them over my many years, but I need to focus on their environment now, meaning you're the best chance this world has. No arguing and no complaining! Alright?"

She nodded as she helped Eclipse down from her shoulder armor perch. She turned back to get a view of the scenery behind her; the others marveled at it while she shrugged it off. As her father left to an awaiting squadron of soldiers, ElectroHyena, as skeptical as her older sister, began walking by her side.

"Why would Dad keep all this from us for years? It's like he only raised us to use us to create other planets."

Tigressa replied, "I have many ideas but none fit his supposed motivation. All I wish to know is why now? Don't you agree?"

The hyena gave her ears' a wiggle as her response which forced a small smile upon the tiger-dragon's faceplates. Suddenly, Tigressa paused, peering towards a nearby Iguanodon. Creation itself was a mystery as well as a shadowy tool most had yet to learn. Shadows; there was a dark side to life, and it was represented as the darkness and the shadows cast by organisms everywhere. In order to manipulate life, one must harness the power of light and dark.

* * *

><p>Thinking madly, Tigressa activated machines around her that fueled computers with new data each collected. She grabbed a syringe of Sauropod DNA and looked it over under the microscope. Whatever made those dinosaurs tick was certainly remarkable, but at the same time, a little premature. The lizards only had the ability to live seventy-five to three hundred years maximum; that was barely one percent of a Kanjian's lifespan. Poor creatures.<p>

Typing more commands, the machine split the Sauropod DNA to its base and began working on a new design Tigressa had manifested. The creature she had a concept for was a three-horned bruiser with short legs, a big head crest, and beak with a body similar to a plate-less Stegosaurus. A Triceratops, as Eclipse came to name it.

Replicating the dinosaur's organic skin proved a challenge but the muscles, organs, and bones were a cloned version of an Elliptic Wyvern's. Ancient, nasty monsters those things once were. Luckily, they went extinct on the planet, Tarvanos, millions of years ago. DNA cloning worked wonders, and thankfully, they had the DNA of the Wyvern's.

Over the course of several tiring weeks, the species of Sauropods called the Triceratops were born. King Kronos had set most of the planet straight at that time with the help of her sisters, and the Triceratops now roamed the wild of Pangea. Blossom took a liking to the bulky dinosaur and named one of them, Axilla. Next up was the Tyrannosaurus Rex, a favorite of hers by a long shot, though she accidently made its arms too small. The creature proved to be an excellent hunter when it wanted to be but since its hip structure swayed abnormally, the predator seemed more like a scavenger, for running wasn't its best ability.

Smiling as her work was successful, her thoughts shifted to a matter she drowned out because of this project. The dark substance, the opposite of Light Eco, Dark Eco; she never began the endeavor with very little mixtures to operate with. It sounded time-consuming, but it seemed worth it.

Looking back to her desk that held a formula she had drawn out in her spare time, her mind raced with the possibilities that could be achieved with such an element. The ingredients were scattered through worlds, however, and some's Space Bridges were shut down, proving it would be difficult to get them. One of the items was the juice from the Blaster warts back on Rozaria. Sephtis could get that for her easily.

But for now, she would wait until the opportune moment was upon her to develop such a dangerous substance.

* * *

><p>Years passed as Tigressa manipulated life like never before. The new Sauropods took over Pangea within the first quarter of the Cretaceous Era, resulting in the Jurassic dinosaurs to fade into history. The newer species were dominant and showed promise despite a few had some physical issues.<p>

Other than that, the baby world was booming with life. Silos sometimes came to the planet to see how much it improved since the previous visit. Every time he came, something different was among the inhabitants of the peaceful globe, and all was because of Tigressa and her family. Nothing was as it seemed.

"Well done, Tigressa! Damn, I didn't know you could play God. All these creatures and you've not once asked to keep one as your own! Why is that?"

The tiger-dragon wrapped her tail around the nearest tree for support as she leaned against another. "I don't need pets in my chamber. Besides, I'm not too good with animals either. For some reason, they fear me but enjoy my sisters' company as well as my brothers. If that isn't a red flag saying I wasn't meant to have a pet of my own, I don't know what is."

She was right. The Captain remembered how she once had a pet Cremour, a large, squid-like centipede. The poor thing kept flipping out whenever she came near. The beast died of a heart attack at age three because of her. Silos considered getting her a Narsili Spider for the Snow Feast. It got away before he could give it to her.

The armor on him groaned as he jumped back through the Bridge with Tigressa following behind him. Waiting for her was Sephtis with four vials of multi-colored materials twisting in their confinement. As he approached them, he held out the tubes for the tiger-dragon to take. "My dear, I've been thinking about what you said a few months ago and I'd thought I'd give you a head start on your 'project.'"

"The Four Eco Elements? Why, Sephtis, you show potential in my plans. I believe I need a few more things to begin. Can you retrieve them for me?" Tigressa smirked as she raised the vials in front of her face.

He returned the grin, "I'd be honored."

Each element glowed with its signature color: red, blue, yellow, and green; Attack, Speed, Ammunition, and Health. Each's power was always a game-changer if used right. Together, the four formed the legendary Light Eco, but with a few extra ingredients, Tigressa knew she could change that.

Opening her chest plates, she placed the sleek containers in between several cables that, on command, latched themselves to the ampoules to secure them. When the wires stopped rearranging themselves, she quickly closed the armor to not let any possible enemy scientists see a way to kill her if they sided with her father when the time came. Knowing they were also mathematicians and excellent spotters, they'd notice many weak points in seconds if given the chance. Underestimating them could be fatal; it was best to take no gambles.

Bowing to the Rozarian hunter, she stalked out of the room and towards her laboratory, where her experiments for new species, not Sauropods, existed. She seemed to be on the verge of another new species break through that made her genius impulse for new concepts to generate.

Her mind was like a clock, always moving, ticking like a time bomb, with cogs keeping everything operational and fool proof. No rust to slow it down and no malfunctions to make it fully insane. Life was like that too, only more complex and had many loose cogs that did nothing to help it continue. Pointless additions more like it. Of course, every once in a while, the clock's various parts had to be changed from time to time; getting rid of the old and bringing in the new pieces.

* * *

><p>It had been two weeks since Sephtis gave her the Eco vials, and just recently, he returned with the missing items: a combination of various animal bloods of all colors and Laproium, a metal element that turned a dark purple-black when agitated almost like it was copying a living organism's camouflage defense. She brewed those two with each other before she went on to the awaiting Ecos.<p>

Mixing the four ingredients together almost blinded her. The light they produced when their energies tangled with one another burned her optics for a second, forcing her to blink a few times to let her eyes adjust to the sudden exposure. With the burst of luminosity, a loud boom erupted from her workshop which almost launched a bunch of her equipment across the lab itself. What a mess that would've made.

As everything stilled and the brightness of the solution died down, Tigressa peered into the receptacle to see a white, faint gold and pink-streaked energy swirl inside. It made a small noise whenever one of the faded pink lines passed over its silver surface.

Clapping her servos together, she poured the blood metal mix into the light and observed the dramatic change. The energy pulsed upward, almost hitting her in the face, and the substance shot out purple strands that orbited the vessel before reattaching itself with its mothering solution. The white grew almost pure black with dark purple clouds forming in it like mist over water. It cackled as the threads of energy once again flew out to return to its origin. It did this occasionally but it appeared to create loops when it did so.

It was beautiful, no doubt. She strived in the darkness and this new Eco element would do her justice, in her vision. In others, it would cleanse only whom she chose in a different way than Light Eco. Light Eco gave users the choice to turn into something they wanted or gain powers they could only dream of having. Dark Eco would be the anti-creator; it would force upon whoever touched it the curse of whatever it desired to turn them into. Whether mentally or physically, change would happen against the victim's wishes, but it could also kill or poison the victim if it chose to as well.

A splendid little catastrophe it would be to those unfortunate enough to be lured into its trap. Those who wanted power would get it but not in the way they expected. Those who wanted to become a certain creature will find the Eco transformed them into what they hate the most. Fear would be its ally and darkness its mother; a magnificent monster hidden under the appearance of a sinister pool.

As she was about to test in on a living thing, one of Blossom's flytraps she "borrowed", she looked to the ground, stunned at her own shadow. The darkness; what was Dark Eco without the element that made its name? That was the last ingredient alright. Why not use the abilities she was given at birth that she trained desperately to control?

Her eyes turned full predator as she clasped her servos into fists before opening them with violent, purple energy seeping from each palm. The colored electric-like power called upon the shadows hidden behind Tigressa, coiling them around the tiger-dragon furiously.

Growling, she stood up and formed a vortex of darkness with the collected shades of various items across the chamber. Slowly, the tornado-like manifestation rose up and curved downward into the Dark Eco mixture with no remorse. As each shadow slipped inside with high velocity, it roared and casted a black light throughout the room.

Tigressa laughed, "Oh my dear father, you're in for a big surprise!"

The last shadow disappeared into the substance that now had dark purple and blue clouds churning inside it like magma in a volcano.

Out of sheer curiosity, she picked up a blue oval gem sitting on her desk that usually was engraved in a Royal Guard's armor, and quickly dipped it inside. The gem grew tenfold with a yellow streak climbing from its submerged tip until it swallowed the visible blue. The changed jewel now looked like it had a golden liquid moving inside it. Smirking, she let it go and it sank into the molten Dark Eco vat. Now, it was time to test it on the plant.

The tiger-dragon brought a vial down to scoop some of it up when she noticed she wasn't infected by it. Either she was immune or the experiment failed. Not wanting to give up yet, she removed the vial from the holder and poured it onto the flytrap. Seconds later, the plant gave cry as the substance disappeared under its skin and purple veins shot throughout its body. Its screams only intensified as its green and red colors turned darker than usual and its body began shifting, adding new appendages and coloring its eyes a luminous yellow. Two more eyes formed under its original as well as a yellow gen on its forehead.

It grew bigger with each addition to its agonized form. Metal replaced certain areas of skin; its stalk-like neck became cables instead of organic plant matter. Red spikes dominated its roots while its pedals and leaf-like arms were covered in different colored mechanics. Its face had two red stripes going through its eyes along with many sharp, white teeth and red chin spikes. It wasn't anything Tigressa had ever seen.

The flytrap was bigger than her with its tail full of spiked roots and its long, snaking body almost taking a majority of the room. Its metalized pedals on its head rose up as it gave a monstrous roar that sounded mightier than her father's.

"Oh, my dear child, look what you've become. A beautiful, elegant lady meant to spread terror and misery to all before you," she purred as she petted its bulbous head.

It licked her in response and nudged against her.

"You only obey me, don't you? Your blood is filled with darkness as is your soul; I can control you, but no one else can?"

It nodded with a toothy grin. Orbiting around her, it brought her close to it as if to hug her. Not being one for hugs, she just eyed it suspiciously as she kept her arms to her side.

"What should we call you? Venusa?" Her received response was the same nod. "As for your species, your alien type, I shall name you and your future kin…Metal Heads, whom carry a signature Skull Gem like yours. Tonight, we start a new population under your new species' title!"

Tigressa looked to a star chart on the ceiling she planted there when she was younger that contained all the planets Kanjis knew of and traded with. "And I know just where to find each and every one of you."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: The birth of the Metal Heads, seen throughout the Jak and Daxter series. In a way, this is a crossover with J&amp;D but in order for it to be actually called one is if the character from one Universe meets the true characters from the other. Since this is the origin of not only Tigressa, but Kor and the Metal Heads as well, it's safe to say technically it isn't a crossover because Kor was created in the Transformers Universe in my perspective. If you think about it, it's never explained where Kor came from and how he got into the J&amp;D Universe in the first place. A Rift Ring is very much like a Space Bridge so it's possible he came from the Transformers Universe.<strong>

**My logic is weird, but it works if you don't strain your brain too much on the concept.**


	6. The Monsters Among Us

The experiments never ceased. More Metal Heads were being created on every planet in reach via Space Bridge. All of them hid among each world's citizens whom now set up training tactics on killing and identifying the abominations. Sadly, most Metal Heads proved too powerful and overwhelmed many, feeding and destroying everything in sight.

Tigressa covered her happiness to prevent any suspicion against her. How she managed it was something even she didn't know, but it worked. At her father's side, she "warded" off the creatures to protect cities on the worlds now drowned with these new beasts. The only people who knew the truth behind it was the Captain and Sephtis. True to his word, the Captain said nothing despite the urge to break his promise.

As for the Dark Eco, the tiger-dragon poured it into various streams and lakes throughout the planets, forming larger quantities of the corrupted substance. Reports of inhabitants falling in and turning into something "ungodly" with yellow gems on their bodies swarmed the communications network all over Kanjis. It was beautiful chaos!

The mammoth aliens that resembled gnarly super-sized cows were now slowly transforming into pink-red skinned giant Metal Elephants. The police force of the planet Barbados with their twin gunned arms and unique weapons became Metal Cloakers and Rapid Gunners. Scraplets taken from Cybertron were conjured into Metal Hoppers, Stingers, and Bats.

But there was a downfall to this uprising. The Metal Heads still had no leader; Tigressa couldn't take the title, for the leader would have to have a Skull Gem and that would give away her secret immediately. She commanded them through a one-way feed but couldn't take the position every step of the way. It became bothersome, though she had a few people in mind for the task.

The King slammed his fist onto the circular console in the center of the Command Station angrily as he read the stats on the Guards' progress against the new menace. "We're becoming outnumbered! Every second more are created and this twisted element is spreading to the main water reservoirs, forcing everyone to pump ground water! It's infected everything and turning my people into animalistic plagues that are able to infect others by bite and scratch!"

Captain Silos looked at Tigressa with hatred. She simply shrugged off the glare.

"We need a new tactic, a strategy they can't counter! Cybertron informs us these 'Metal Heads' are moving toward their Northern city of Iacon in search for something regarding Primus. None of their forces have been successful at keeping those monsters at bay either," Prometheus growled.

Suddenly, the comm. link activated with an Elite general on the end of the line. "Sir, our battle subgroups 5A through 17M have been wiped out by a new species of abomination! It's huge, almost like the giant Sauropods on Galicia!"

"What!? How can that be? Galicia is or was protected! Each water source carefully monitored as well as the animals and citizens! How did Dark Eco slip through undetected!?" The King's armor was rigid now; all cables exposed with the metal pointing upward which usually happened if for intimidation or aggravation.

"I don't know, your Highness," the general frowned. "How it happened or why is a mystery to us, but the Dark Eco is taking over the planet fast as we speak. Galicia will be consumed in mere days if we don't figure out a way to halt the substance's consumption."

King Kronos ventilated a sigh with his nostril flaring smoke once again. He put his face in his servos under the pressure he was receiving. "I-I don't know what to do anymore. Nothing's working! Maybe we should pipe the Eco somewhere it cannot do any more damage. Or trap it, in a special metal-based silo. Precursor metal! That's it!"

"What is, sir?"

"Precursor metal is forged with Light Eco; if we trap the dark matter in it, the substance won't be able to eat through it because the Light in the metal will cancel its abilities out! General, send as many troops as you can to retrieve all four Elemental Ecos and bond the Light Eco with a Copper-Celestial mix metal."

The comm. was silent for a second before the general's voice carried through, "Will do, my liege!"

"Captain," Kronos instantly summoned, "see if you can find any mixed metal in the kingdom. We'll convert that to Precursor metal. Beckon every blacksmith and iron worker on the planet to meet here to help build these storage towers. They're going to be big so we need all the help we can get."

Captain Silos bowed, "As you wish, your Highness!"

He just gave the tiger-dragon another cruel glare before simply saying, "Tigressa."

A scowl formed across her face as the Rozarian left. Obviously, it was going to take some time for him to respect what she was doing. Giving a low whine to get her father's attention, she moved to his side and activated a screen with information the King did not recognize.

"What is…? Tigressa, what is this?"

"I believe I may have a solution to our…uh…problems. A 'friend' of mine on Rozaria has alerted me that the Dark Eco can be manipulated and harnessed with the right tools and abilities. I think it's possible for us to do such a thing. After all, your abilities are legend and if you can master this twisted substance, hope will forever blossom in your favor," she purred with a small grin.

"Quit patronizing me! My power does not make me who I am, it's the deeds I do and how I do them that makes me different. I cannot rely on my abilities to carry us through to the end; it takes more than just raw strength to win against a battle you are losing. Strategy, cleverness, and heart always succeed more than any other known skill. Cowards rely on their gifts and their talents alone to break through their situations, though helpful they may be. I, however, will not let my mind go to waste when it can be used in a fight!"

The tiger-dragon responded with silence. King Kronos failed to notice her ears were pointed behind her and a sneer was upon her faceplates. She eyed the data once more before closing it, leaving her father to stare at her at her sudden actions.

As she left, he peered down to the floor before looking back to the blank screen with a raised brow.

* * *

><p>"Koana, I need you to get a special item for me in the desert plains south of Juaquel. It seems that item I desire is finally crucial to my plans on taking down my…I mean…the Metal Heads. Am I clear?"<p>

The female Rozarian exhaled out of curiosity and uncertainty. "The plains are infested with Dark Eco-transformed Marla-pedes now. How exactly am I supposed to get it? I don't even know what you're looking for."

"The item which I seek is called a Hydra Palmira; it can…um…'restore' powers and other abilities that have been lost to others. With the right technology and knowledge, it can be reverse-engineered to perhaps restore the lives devastated by the Dark Eco. It should be in the Fria Energon cavern," Tigressa grumbled as she clicked her talons together impatiently and unnerved.

Koana sniffed the air and let a low snarl escape her lips. "You are a complex person, my dear. If you manage to pull this off, I'll repay you with my allegiance when you become Queen."

The tiger-dragon's spikes crawled down her back, "Don't worry. I promise you will meet a glorious new future where the Metal Heads are no longer your enemies. Everyone shall see; everyone shall survive whether here or in the Underworld."

The rhino paused at the last sentence but only shot her superior a confused glance. "Whatever the Princess wants," Koana muttered.

* * *

><p>King Kronos huffed as his daughter played with his tail again. Both Eclipse and her twin were much more rowdy and energetic than usual, and he had no patience anymore since more Metal Head incidents have been confirmed. But he did not wish to upset them; they were still young and any rejection could impact their future views of him and the family.<p>

"Daddy, Phantasmos got Phoenix Sitara working. He wants to test drive it by using it to transport goods to our merchants on Cybertron. Can we go?"

Opening his mouth for a brief second before closing it, he considered saying no for Metal Heads were still on the loose in the Northern hemisphere there. He could always send Guards with them. Yes, that'll be good. His children will survive.

Swallowing loudly, he replied, "Very well, but take some Guards with you. And make sure your brother is absolutely sure his ship can function with no complications."

The blue cat saluted and lowered his tail that coiled immediately after. She scrambled through the halls happily towards the docks below the palace. Awaiting her was Phantasmos and a Guard name Vanali who always watched over the blue twins since their birth. With Phantasmos' inventions and scientific expertise, and Vanali's design ideas and connections to the mapped trading worlds, they were a team like no other. The Guard got the parts and the little dragon built what he desired with Vanali's help once in a while.

Vanali was also a great mathematician that sometimes rivaled Phantasmos' vast knowledge, but both never boasted and always tested their conclusions to see which one suited the invention best. At rare times, both worked, so the dragon would do both to make it fair and split the formulas' uses to once every other cycle.

Eclipse managed the projects and covered for her twin whenever he wanted to make his experiments a surprise. Right now, however, with Metal Heads, suspicion began arising that he accidently created those monsters or someone stole an invention and used it against the various worlds in the Andromeda Galaxy. Phantasmos denied all claims and both Vanali and King Kronos supported him. Eclipse was unsure but doubted her twin's abilities to be able to form such monsters.

Swaying her hips to keep her tail from sulking, she met Phantasmos near the ship that was receiving a recent upgrade her twin managed to buy. "What's up, Buttercup?" She leaned against the green colored metal, propped up with one elbow over her brother's visible half.

He hated that nickname but ignored it to get to the point of his twin's conversation she always wanted to start. How it came to be was a mystery. Phantasmos rolled himself out from under the ship's wing to stare up at Eclipse. "What do you want? I'm busy and I don't have time to deal with whatever chaos you've inflicted upon any of our crew."

"Oh, it's nothing really. I just wanted you to know, I got permission from Dad to go to Cybertron," she said as she checked her nails, "A 'thank you' would suffice."

The blue and black dragon growled, "Thank…you. Now, don't you have someone to beat up or bother for the time being? It's going to be a few minutes to get my baby up and running. You know why too!"

Giving a facial expression of distaste, she walked around the sprawled youngling to sit on the tip of the green wing. On cue, Phantasmos scowled, "It's done! Now let's go before I change my mind!"

Vanali smirked as Eclipse stuck her tongue out at her twin. He bowed while Phantasmos contacted several Guards and activated the ship's power core. All system schematics activated around the main control's dash as both the twins and the Guards boarded the awaiting vessel.

Phantasmos took his place in the pilot's seat and halted further actions to allow his passengers a moment to settle in their stations on the medium-sized cruiser. When Eclipse gave him two thumbs up, Phoenix Sitara exited the hangar with Vanali and a few Guards waving behind them. The hangar soon was a dot under a towering complex of a castle and the same eventually came for the kingdom in Gemelo on the surface of Kanjis as they zipped through the atmospheric shield.

When the atmosphere was cleared, nothing but faint stars and an orbiting Space Bridge were visible. One of the Guards punched in a few codes, and instantly the portal to Cybertron was awake. Its blue-green hue lit up every shadow facing it on the cruiser before it was engulfed in the vortex's light.

* * *

><p>"They left Kanjis and heading this way. What do you want us to do, sir?"<p>

"Nothing; they aren't who I seek so I have no reason to bother them. You know exactly who I want! When she comes, we'll make a deal. And this time, this bargain will be a game changer. I can feel it!"

"And you're sure she'll be able to help you?"

"I am certain, for I'll show my brethren who is God here, and with her turning the tide, I'll be able to grasp the power and leadership I was denied. Karma's a bitch, ain't it? Hahahahahahahahahaha!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Guess who you're going to meet later on. Also Eclipse is a suck-up to her father, playing him as Tigressa is doing. I'll tell you why later.<strong>


	7. New Faces and Familiar Places

"You think Cybertron would be livelier during the day. I mean, yikes, this place is a ghost city!" Eclipse exclaimed while juggling metal rocks she had come across on the ground.

"For good reason, dear sister, for everybody's watching the Gladiatorial Championship in Downtown Kaon. I heard the challengers are Hadron and Diver this stellar cycle, but at the same time, there are rumors that the bosses of the Pits are thinking about recruiting some of the low working class since the matches are always to the death and they're starting to run out of gladiators."

The cat femme scoffed, "As if the miners and constructers can battle. They aren't meant for the Pits, nor are they even built to fight in the first place!"

Phantasmos kicked a loose rock towards an alley beside them as they passed by. "Mm…no, I have to disagree with you there. Everybody can fight, it's just that some choose not to which could be a nod towards being a coward. I think a miner could turn this world around, for good or bad. It's just nobody's looked for the right bot yet, but trust me, he or she exists somewhere."

"Alright, Wise and Wondrous, so tell me, who or what are we looking for?"

The blue and black dragon checked his surroundings carefully before answering, "I'm supposed to meet with Zacremu, our merchant who sells lost artifacts, and Swale, who is a tricky salesbot that can get something cheap and work magic to sell it for double its amount. The mech's a genius in the trade business; I heard he was going to teach his son, Swindle, about trade when he believes the time is right."

Eclipse dropped her rocks and unsheathed her sword as he finished and fixed her eyes on the dead end of the alley. Her ears were facing back as she stood still, observing her prey. Her brother moved to her side and pinpointed what she was targeting.

A figure was hidden in the shadows of the afternoon sun. By what Phantasmos could make of it, it had wings and was a youngling. The Infrared sight modification finally paid off for once since nothing was hotter than whoever that was. He could see the figure preparing to fight but did not engage or come out into the open. He or she was unsure about them and quite honestly, it would be a mistake not to be.

He pushed his twin's sword down before walking over to the blackened individual with no weapon drawn and his servos open to show he was not a threat. Steadily, he approached him but stopped when he reached end of the visible sunlight. The figure still had a stance but slowly repositioned himself to a mere stand.

"Who are you and why are you out here alone?" Phantasmos twitched his ears waiting for a response.

"The real question I think is important is why are two foreign techno-organics parading on an unguarded Cybertron?" A feminine voice answered with a hiss.

The black and blue dragon turned his head slightly to the side, "Business matters, and personal ones. Now, you've avoided my questions so I will ask again. What is your designation and why are you on the streets at this time?"

The femme Seeker gave a short snarl, "I am NightHawk and what I'm doing here is a personal matter as well. You are no Elite Guardsman so you have no right to question what we do on our planet. I can ask you because you are not a part of the system therefore on Cybertron, we outrank you, even us children."

"So it seems. At least we don't have Tigressa with us, she'd beg to differ."

NightHawk finally walked out of the shadows with an ill-gotten smirk on her faceplates. "If you really want to know who I am beside the name, I am a little wee lamb who has lost her flock. The streets are my home and I survive by stealing from and killing others. A little dark for most but there it is."

Phantasmos nodded while biting his lower lip, "Terribly sorry. Can't imagine being separated from the people you love."

"Ah, don't be. I lost them when I was a sparkling, raised by a foster family for a few years until I got it in my head to find my real one. I still remember my mother's face, could never find her though. So, I set up a cozy output here in Alleyville. Not much but it's better than nothing."

Looking back at Eclipse and then back to NightHawk, the dragon thought up a few ideas before one made its presence unavoidable. "Say," he started, "do you wanna accompany us to check on a few merchants of ours? If you like us afterwards, you could even come with us to Kanjis, our home planet. Father will love you."

She gave a real smile this time, "Really? I mean, I don't want to bother you or your merchants, nor even your sire and carrier. I'd be a burden, trust me."

"A burden? That's highly doubtful since I have eleven siblings. You'd be the least problematic. Wait until you meet my crazy family; you'll know why!" He laughed as he offered her a hand.

Hesitantly, she took it and followed him back to his awaiting twin. Eclipse bowed in respect of their new friend, who returned the gratitude with a less structured bow since she was being towed to their next destination.

* * *

><p>Tigressa tapped her claws impatiently on the side of her chair. She was laying horizontally on it with her head parallel with the ceiling and her tail blissfully curling around it. Boredom wasn't the worst thing to ever happen to her, but it did leave her in an incomplete state.<p>

The doors creaked open with an awaiting guard on the other side. He fast walked over to her with an expression that could be described as fear with some twists. "Mistress, Koana has returned, but she is wounded. We have Raimo helping her, and she is carrying something she says belongs to you."

The tiger-dragon threw her legs over the armrest of her throne before sprinting towards the Sickbay. Within minutes, she arrived in the lower corridor of the hospital, and in Room 35E, her former-nanny slash tutor awaited her arrival. In her hand was the Hydra Palmira.

The wounds on her were extreme but most were only on the surface of the skin. Others were deep lacerations that had been treated, stitched up, and bandaged right as she was placed in the care of Raimo and a Kanjian doctor named Tensas. With a Class A professional like Tensas and a Grandmaster Witch Doctor, nobody doubted that Koana would be in recovery in less than thirty minutes.

Tensas knew how to treat every wound physically possible, cyber-based and organic. The greatest of injuries only took him several minutes to fix, for he worked fast and never slipped up. He was the best of the best, and boy was King Kronos thankful to have him. He could deal with even the tiniest of organics and never miss a beat. The bot was a legend.

The crocodile techno-organic said nothing as Tigressa entered the room. The guard who had escorted her bowed before leaving the doctor and the larger femme alone. The tiger-dragon clasped her servos behind her back with a smile, "You lived and retrieved the Palmira for me. You're one tough femme, I'll give you that."

"Go to Hell, you bitch," Koana jeered with a growl.

"Been there, done that, my dear," Tigressa cockily replied, "Oh and by the way, how was your experience there? I heard you had a great time. Do tell."

The Rozarian shoved the item into her commander's abdomen angrily while giving her a merciless glare. "Take your fucking object and leave me alone. You knew those monsters were waiting for me; you knew they'd let me get this piece of shit but wouldn't let me escape with it. What have you done, Tigressa? You sold us all out! It was you!"

Her grin faded to a frown as the rhino cursed her out and when her mentor began pointing at the tiger-dragon, she grabbed the nearest thing and whacked the injured female across the face, knocking her out cold.

"Can't have someone yelling names out at random, don't you think Doctor?"

Tensas smirked, "Always one to use actions not words, eh, my liege?"

"Doctor, can you or can you not change the information Koana has learned about me? Can you rewrite her memories, so to speak?"

"Not entirely, but I can use a simple but skilled microchip to make her think like it was all a dream and no such Hydra Palmira ever existed. When she wakes, I'll tell her not to speak of this 'hallucination' to anybody else besides you, Mistress. No one will know except us."

Tigressa threw up and caught the item with a brow raised, "Good."

* * *

><p>Zacremu waved at the three bots and urged them to come to his shop. With the streets dead and no customers as far as the eye could see, it was a perfect time to get what you wanted and give what you were sent to present to the merchant.<p>

"Ah, Phantasmos! Eclipsa! I see you have new friend, seeker no doubt. Very swell to see you all!" The grey and red merchant cried in glee with an exotic accent. "So, you bring goods we agree upon? Let me see, son, let me see!"

"He never gets my name right," Eclipse said with a sigh.

Phantasmos ignored her and opened a compartment in his chest. It was an old grey box with several worn latches and a symbol NightHawk didn't recognize. What laid inside shocked the seeker but made the merchant grin. Within a faded purple cloth, two silver challises, an unknown green-metaled object, and a golden, but rusted, opal-encrusted bird amulet.

The bird had miniature opals engraved on its body and woven into its wings and tail. It was a beautiful sight that almost made Zacremu shed a lubricant tear of joy. NightHawk gasped when she saw it. It reminded her of a freedom symbol, one that meant hope and guidance. Something all seekers wanted but could never obtain.

"Oh, my boy, you've truly outdone yourself! These are magnificent, rare beauties of untamable price! Let me guess, you would like something in return, yes?"

The dragon smiled, "Though I really don't need anything for myself, I don't suppose you have something NightHawk would like?"

Zacremu clapped his hands together happily, "Oh, I see now. You wish to welcome her! Okey Dokey, so if you follow me, dearie, you can choose whatever you like from my special item wall!"

NightHawk trailed behind him along with the twins to another room where an entire wall glimmered with many marvelous artifacts of unknown make. She spotted several amulets with sparkling jewels, exquisite designs, and high value. One item made her forget about the opal bird.

On the high corner of the wall, an amethyst-centered and silver medallion that had a symbol like the one on Phantasmos' box shined next to a necklace with an eight-legged organic and a unique tool she guessed was from an old medical facility back when Cybertron first started out. The merchant caught her optic and climbed up to get it. When he lowered it to her for her to take, Phantasmos went to her side to see what she had chosen.

"I recognize that alright. Do you know what this is?"

NightHawk shook her head.

"It's the symbol of the Dracons. It's a group name we came up with for our siblings. See the purple amethyst? The amethyst is supposed to represent the darkness which is controlled by my elder sister and the leader of our clan, Tigressa. It's best not to meet her at this time though."

Zacremu smiled, "It's yours, dearie! Now until forever…or until you decide to sell it. Remember, with the right tools and artifacts, I give you something you want from my shop for free. No catch, no fees; all yours!"

"Thank you so much, sir."

"You're welcome. Anytime! So, you off to see next merchant, Swale, correct?"

Phantasmos nodded which rewarded him with a concerned frown from the grey and red mech.

"Ooo, I don't think Swale has open shop right now. I think he's at the Gladiatorial Pits with his son. A lot of sires take their younglings to the Pits to teach them about fighting, minus the morose killings. Perhaps you'd find him there. I'm sure Guard would help you for a price."

"Don't worry," the dragon assured, "I have emergency credits locked up for issues such as Guards. We can handle it."

Zacremu immediately placed two digits on the bridge of his nose, "Oh, I almost forgot, you don't mind doing a scavenger hunt for younglings, do ya? There are two troublesome mechs who keep stealing many things from merchants across the city of Kaon, including me. Scout them out and see if you can persuade them to leave us alone and rob some of the rich folks instead. I have been losing profit from their escapades and cannot afford to lose anything more! "

Phantasmos bowed, "We'll see to this problem as we track down Swale. Until we meet again, Zacremu."

"Always pleasured to serve, your Highness."

As they exited the shop, NightHawk looked at the dragon in confusion. "'Your Highness'? You expect me to believe you're some sort of a prince?"

She received a smirk with a simple response, "Oh, you shall see, my dearest NightHawk."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Phantasmos and Eclipse are meeting their future adoptive siblings as well as their merchants. NightHawk and the others were originally suppose to be born during the Civil War but I think it was best to do it before because I know Starscream and his siblings are alive at this time so it's more than likely they had kids who eventually died or disappeared.<strong>

**Yes, Tensas isn't a good guy but he does help someone good in the future. SPOILER ALERT!: He doesn't die but his fate is unknown, assuming he may have been arrested or still was able to keep the ruse.**

**Also, at the beginning when Phantasmos was talking about the future Gladiators, notice how I referenced a certain miner and what happens in the future. Another thing is Swindle, he is an adult at this time but I believe he did have a sire and I named him Swale.**

**Zacremu, the merchant, I think has an Italian accent. I was thinking about a Russian but Italian worked better.**


	8. Double Trouble

The Gladiatorial stadium was packed to the point where viewers were even sitting on the rooftops and hanging on the statues that decorated the walls. Finding Swale was seemingly impossible, but they could wait it out. Knowing the tan and blue merchant, he was most likely going to retreat to his service ship and restock on shop items to sell the following evening.

Fights in the Pits didn't take too long but it depended on who was versing who and who wanted to participate in the free-for-all rounds, where bots could let out anger against one another without being an actual gladiator.

Before championship battles, other surviving gladiators dueled out to keep their audiences interested and give them an actual show rather than a single thirty-minute beat down where it ended directly after. Hadron and Diver were no doubt practicing in the Pit's underground training hall; they were probably as excited about the match as the city whom had come to observe them.

Keeping on the less crowded lower roof sectors, Phantasmos, NightHawk, and Eclipse watched the pre-championship match between Deathsteel and Solstice on one of the many shafted light poles. Too bad flying was forbidden in the arena because the dragon had to admit the fight was great and with an air-borne view, it would've been even grander.

Suddenly, Eclipse tapped his shoulder spikes and pointed at two mechs who were dodging and weaving through the standing lower roof-bound crowd. One was a dark blue with wings and the other was green with brown appendages. Both were making a retreat with what appeared to be stolen goods and to confirm it, the two techno-organics both witnessed the green one pickpocket something silver from a bystander.

A shout was heard a little ways from where the bots had just escape from. The femme who said it yelled, "Those rascals stole my necklace! Stop them!" In response, the crowd around her began searching for the thieves but as the word spread, the criminals were already gone from the section where the alert had reached.

The dragon snarled before jumping off the light stand and running after the two mechs. Eclipse, however, just lifted her arms up in disbelief and called down to her fleeing brother, "Hey! Hey, we're not here to play hero! We're supposed to find Swale! Come on, you idiot!"

NightHawk said nothing but go to the edge of the light stand and transform into her alt. mode in which she flew after the dragon boy, flying on the outside to prevent any unwanted attention.

He didn't hear his sister. Instead, he followed them to the upper roof where the seekers and other flyers hung out to watch the tournament. The closest to him was the green bot but with all the flyers around, he couldn't get within a good range to snag the evasive mech. Sliding under a large Insecticon, he continued to trail the grounder until he finally tripped him.

Growling, the mysterious mech brought his chin to rest on the ground with a puff of air flaring from his nose. Before he could get up, Phantasmos placed a pede on his back to keep him down.

"So, you and you're crime partner are the ones stealing from my merchants. My clients will gladly pay for your dismemberment. In fact, I think the crimes you've performed against them make you deserve to be torn apart in the Pits by the gladiators!"

Shocked, the green mech began to struggle and whimper, "Alright, I did it, but please don't send me down there! I'm barely a scout; I'm a youngling! I have so much to live for!"

"How so? You stole from MY clients! You are pretty much insulting ME and I do not tolerate thieves! In fact, I think my merchants would be more merciful than I in this given situation," Phantasmos snarled.

"I…I can make it up to you. I'll return the items we've stolen and I'll be your servant! How about that deal, huh?"

The dragon removed his foot from the mech's back before exhaling smoke. "Or, you can help me find one of the merchants I'm supposed to deliver new valuables to. Afterwards, we'll see what fate you deserve. By the way, what is your name?"

The mech got up and rubbed his sore back where his pursuer had his claws. He smiled a little, "Don't know really, but I gained the name Spike after both Draco and I became friends. Two lonesome bots trying to make a living, you know. Our families don't care about us; all we have is each other. We're practically brothers!"

"Hey, boys!"

Both Phantasmos and Spike peered up to see NightHawk dragging a bound Draco towards them. "Caught him after you captured the green dude. Put up a great fight, but I got him!"

She pushed him to stand in front of the dragon, who didn't respond to the seeker's presence. Draco spat on the ground before turning to the superior, "Had nothing else to do, eh? You are that concerned about your merchants' items? Techno-organics are persistent, I'll give you that. So Spike, finally gave in? I thought you knew better."

Spike lowered his head in shame while Phantasmos guarded him, "There will be no need to point digits here. You and your friend will accompany me to find Swale, whether you like it or not. As I have said to Spike, your fate will be determined afterwards. Are we clear?"

The seeker gave a sadistic smirk, "Perfectly."

* * *

><p>"You think your father would've figured out it was you by now. I mean, you created many Sauropods then suddenly those abominations are running across the galaxy with an unknown dark substance. It points fingers at you."<p>

Tigressa scowled, "Whether he doesn't know or he does is not relevant right now. As long as he's distracted, I can manage what I want without him pestering me about each transition I do."

Silos crossed his arms, shaking his head, "What do you intend to accomplish with this? You can't take over the galaxy nor can you fully control its citizens, if there are any citizens left judging by how much your 'Dark Eco' has transformed over the last year. The planets' are looking for a new leader since they're starting to believe Kronos set this chaotic plague up to remind them of who is in command. Which means, of course, everything is working according to your 'brilliant' plan."

He cringed when she laughed at the irony, "Oh, how the tables have turned."

Before she could say anything more, the chamber doors opened to reveal her mother, Queen Kiara. Two Guards followed her through as she happily walked to where her daughter was. "There you are, my dear. Your father has requested your presence in the Command Center, something about the Metal Heads."

That caught her throat. Staring wide-eyed for a second before regaining her current facial expression, Tigressa bowed, "Very well then. Silos, we shall continue this tomorrow."

The Captain grunted but didn't acknowledge her leaving. The Queen stayed with him and when the tiger-dragon left, she turned to Silos with a confused look. "What were you talking about, love?"

"Uh…we were just…um…contemplating about Phantasmos' well-being since, you know, he's on Cybertron and all. Vanali also mentioned how he missed them…so…yeah," he gave a sheepish fake smile, "How've you been, your Majesty?"

* * *

><p>Tigressa felt all eyes trained on her as she entered the Command Center with an expressionless King Kronos leaning over the circular control panel as his claws dug into the metal. "I thought I could trust you," he said glumly, "How dare you take me for a fool."<p>

Did he know? The tiger-dragon approached him uneasily, occasionally sniffing the air to detect what mood he was. She gave him a side glance of uncertainty to see how he would react.

"You have disappointed me, Tigressa. I expected better of you."

She gave a low roar to stimulate whatever he was feeling. He did nothing in return which made her worry he was going to be unpredictable and attack her.

Slowly, he turned to face his daughter with no reassuring smile, no disapproving frown, just a flat line with several razor sharp teeth overlapping his mouth. "When were you going to tell me that you…of all people…were hiding the truth from me? Why did you do this?"

In order to have some shred of hope that he could be manipulated into believing otherwise, Tigressa decided to play innocent. "I'm afraid I…don't know what you are referring to. What have I done?"

That question was obscure to perhaps even Raimo. No one except her could really say and even if her father could answer correctly, it would still be shrouded in mystery to all. His expression turned dark with his slit pupils narrowing to a thin streak vertically in his optics. Obviously, the question wasn't the right one to ask.

"You deliberately upstaged me by…falsely informing me of our progress on those silos! We need those yet you decided to build contraptions that are practically useless at this time! I don't need shields of Eco; I don't need Precursor artifacts like that 'Time Map' of yours! I need Dark Eco silos, Precursor armor, and weaponry! You are wasting valuable time and resources on items that do nothing to help win this battle! Either you fix this, or I will, and I don't plan on giving you a second chance. Mess up once more and you will be stripped of your command over this project, understand!?"

She was wrong; her father knowing would be a bad thing, but thankfully, it wasn't about that. She mentally gave a sigh of relief. However, she kept her visual appearance strict, showing no vulnerability to his words. "I understand, my Liege. It will be mended and accounted for in due time. I shall not fail you."

Much to her dislike, she bowed, carefully hiding the grimace as she did so. The King didn't give any hint of sympathy and turned away, monitoring the stats for new cruiser schematics capable of resisting the lower class Metal Heads. As his back was turned, the tiger-dragon clenched her servos into fists and an immediate large scowl broke its way to the surface of her faceplates.

Not paying attention to the others whom had been watching, she stormed out of the Command Room before going to her own chamber and breaking the body off one of the metal pillars that were immobile next to her berth. Shaking her helm, she roared angrily at the ceiling, her eyes just a red and yellow blur of endless hate.

* * *

><p>Draco wasn't much of a nuisance as Phantasmos originally thought but when he could give the dragon a hard time, he would. The seeker would step on his tail while they were searching, forcing him to stop and do everything possible to calm himself. He also made noise to attract attention and blame it on the black and blue dragon.<p>

When the tournament finally ended, thank Primus, they gave up their search and wandered down to Swale's service ship near his shop. It was as abandoned as the stadium in the aftermath of the fights. Spike sat atop the ship's frontal wing and played catch with Eclipse while NightHawk and Draco discussed how they became what they were now. Phantasmos just laid on the nose of the ship flipping an old rusted credit and predicting whether it would land on heads or tails.

A few minutes went by before they heard someone clear their throat. All looked up from what they were doing to see the tan and blue merchant with a familiar tan and purple mech beside him; Swale and Swindle.

"I do say, what are you younglings slouching around my ship for?" He hissed.

A majority of them glanced at each other and pointed at Phantasmos, who gave them death glares in return. Reluctantly, he answered, "We're here on business. I have what you want and you have something I desire."

Swale was confused at first but he suddenly recognized who it was. "Primus, Phantasmos? Eclipse?" He clapped his hands together in delight, "Oh how I haven't seen you since the Smuggling Episode! You've grown and you have new friends who are former thieves, eh? Remarkable, simply superb. I must say I'm surprised to see you here at this time. Things have turned for the worst with those new creatures occasionally stalking the surface of Cybertron. Twenty-two mechs, fifteen femmes, and thirty-seven younglings and Sparklings have fallen prey to those monsters!"

All, including Swindle, bowed their heads in silence. Phantasmos then said, "Truly sad. I am sorry for Cybertron's loss." He opened his chassis to bring out a different colored box, one with silver detailing on the corners. To save his merchant the time, he hopped down from the ship and gave it to his son.

Swindle smiled as he took it, unsealing it to reveal several gold and silver items along with a few worn but valuable artifacts. "Thanks. You know, my father's been teaching me about how to sell beauties like these for double the price. Works like a charm when you know your customers spot on."

Phantasmos gave a soft smirk before peering towards Swale. The tan and blue bot put up a finger and ran into his shop. As fast as he went in, he came out with an unusual machine part neither the two thieves nor even NightHawk had seen in their lifetime.

"Here you go, your Highness. Rebuilt to perfection and already tested. It's yours."

The dragon looked it over in awe. "You have no idea how badly I need this. One of my inventions needs a new power module and when I fix it, my dad will be proud and my mom will be grateful. Thank you."

Swale scoffed, "Ah, don't thank me. I'm a mere merchant doing what's right. Well, I have to be going back to running my shop. I shall see you whenever you decide to make another delivery."

Phantasmos waved good-bye to both Swale and his son. He motioned for the other younglings to follow who also waved back at the merchant.

"So," Draco mused, "now that's done and over with, what do you intend to do with us?"

The dragon smirked, "I'm not going to do anything anymore. You're free to go unless you want to come with us to Kanjis. That is…if you think you can handle the organic and techno-organic life on it, with mint-blue plants, two suns that are blue and yellow supergiants, and a bunch of Eco Wells with different types of Ecos surrounding the cities on it."

"Oh, I don't think, I know I can handle it. Right, Spike?"

Spike nodded while Phantasmos frowned. "I thought you didn't like us?"

The seeker laughed, "I don't but I like your abilities, stubbornness, and frankly, I love messing with you."

"Uh huh, so you do plan on sticking around?"

"Forever and ever. Besides, you're too fun to let go. We shall help you on your quests from here on out, whether it's thick or thin, we'll be there. So, Captain, where are we off to now? Your home?"

Phantasmos' smile faded, "No, actually, I need to do one more thing, but I don't know whether he'll still welcome us or shun us after the recent Metal Head attacks, considering those horrid creatures originated from Kanjis."

NightHawk jogged to the front to meet him, "So where is 'he'?"

"He's at Iacon in one of the main archive towers."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Phantasmos is meeting his future siblings alright but Tigressa is struggling to maintain control over her situation. Let's just say, you'll learn soon enough how she counters this ordeal.<strong>


	9. Bloodlust

"Did you fix your mistake?" King Kronos hissed as he studied the towering Eco Silo.

Tigressa growled but didn't reply. When she gave no sign of wanting to acknowledge him, he turned back to the silo, observing its features.

The silos now stood as pillars of hope, all capable of containing the Dark Eco that had run vigorously across the planets for nearly two years now. They had already managed to plant several of them on largely populated worlds such as Rozaria and Cybertron, which its silo was just installed very recent and hordes of Cybertronians have been donating their time and efforts to herd the dark substance inside. It's been successful so far.

Prometheus snarled at his daughter's uncooperative behavior but dismissed it, knowing full well she didn't take feedback lightly. His ears perked up a bit before returning to a defensive position. Reluctantly, he backed off and left the tiger-dragon to continue her work. What he didn't know was she was no longer in her right mind.

After he had gone, she shook her head madly like a bull, seeing red and the people within the red zone. One of those people was Phantasmos' Guard friend, Vanali. She grunted and snarled at the sight of the Guard, moving in a circle, confused on instinct as if she had rabies. But as a good predator would do, she waited for him to be alone. When he moved onto the warehouse, her mind could no longer take the wait, she followed.

* * *

><p>Vanali entered one of the empty storage chambers originally designed to hold crates of ill-gotten Eco and Energon. Now, it just held the silo parts and blue prints. The garage was abandoned; nobody came in, and quite frankly, most have forgotten about it even if they went inside. They only saw a worthless silo shack.<p>

His peaceful visit, however, stalled when he heard a faint growl. His green optics scanned the room for the origin but could see nothing. It wasn't anything he recognized and he knew it was no Metal Head, for he had enough experience with those beasts just recently. Plus, none were on Kanjis, at least, none that anybody knew of.

Instantly, he transformed his arm into a blaster. "Who's there? Show yourself or I will have no choice but to use deadly force!"

The sound of something sticky opening with a serpent-like groan made goose bumps ripple down him. It almost seemed like jaws with saliva were parting…he realized the similarities between his thought and the actual noise. He began moving backwards toward one of the exits, gun still held in front of him. Out of other options, he took off, sprinting without looking back.

Instantly, quick footsteps followed and they grew louder with every other step. He launched himself to the door without hesitation, but something bit down on his outstretched arm, severing it from its owner.

Vanali gave a bellow as Energon poured from the large gaping hole that once was a bridge to his limb. He saw the shadow of his attacker go around a few silo parts before lunging at him again, teeth barred and latched onto his shoulder this time. It only took a second before it too was torn from its home. Where both the limb and his shoulder went only had one logical answer: the monster ate them. It struck again and viciously left deep cuts on his right leg.

The Guard leaned against a post for support as his attacker moved into the darkness once more. He raised his fist and punched the beast's face as it tried again to snatch off another limb. It wasn't enough to make it back down but it brought the point across that he wasn't willing to go down easily. When the predator wandered too close into the light without striking, his eyes widened at who it was.

"Tigressa, what are you doing!? What are you…!?"

The words died in his mouth when he peered into her slit pupil eyes; she wasn't herself anymore, just a cold, mindless animal. He found himself unable to go anywhere with tripping because of his injured leg, but he had no choice. He reluctantly tried to back away but fell, forcing him to look up at the deranged tiger-dragon. Tigressa, in return, unleashed one of her swords, showing neither remorse nor emotion on her Energon-soaked face.

He could feel lubricant beginning to leak from his optics as she drew closer. He was in such a state of pain and betrayal, his mind couldn't take both. "P-please, Tigressa, don't do this!" He cried, watching her expression stay as cold as her heart.

Slowly, she raised her weapon, not acknowledging his pleas, and in one strike, she cut off his right leg completely. She noticed how he clenched his teeth together trying to hide his misery. She swung down again, piercing his abdomen with the blade and leaving it to rest there before hovering over him with cruel eyes watching him bleed upon the floor.

She moved until his face was aligned with hers upside down. Narrowing her optics, she barred her fangs once more, roared, and with blinding speed, mauled his upper body relentlessly. His screams didn't leave the room and continued as she tore metal off brutally.

However unknown to the two, someone had seen what she had done. Someone observed the poor Guard being eaten alive, trying desperately to claw at the tiger-dragon's neck to get her to retract. His remaining leg could do nothing to help, and Vanali kept shouting, hoping someone would save him before he became a cybernetic happy meal. No one came.

Eventually, the Guard ceased his movements, his shrieks dying in his throat. Energon was now a massive pool formed in the center of the chamber. If there was anything left of Guard, the pieces would probably be so damaged; they would be unrecognizable.

Tigressa sat up from her dinner, her markings on her face practically invisible by the coating of blood upon her. She gave a low, subtle growl as she began cleaning herself. Her tongue could only do so much; the rest would have to be cleaned via oil bath.

The watching stranger grew unnerved by the sight and sunk into the shadows.

* * *

><p>Phantasmos and his new crew of younglings raced to Iacon in the Phoenix Sitara, hoping their mystery mech was there. The Guards the dragon brought with him were left to protect the two merchants while he ran the small errand on his own with his friends.<p>

Upon arrival to the tower, they were greeted by an old red and purple mech as well as a similarly-aged Bot of red and silver. "Alpha Trion, Sentinel Prime. How great it is to see you again."

Draco took a second to process that, "Wait, you know THE Alpha Trion AND Sentinel Prime!?"

"Shut up," Phantasmos whispered, "I'll tell you about it later. It's complex."

"Ah yes, King Kronos' youngest son," the Elder replied. "I have heard bad things recently, involving your world as well as many others. Care to elaborate?"

The dragon gave weak bow, "Sir, the Metal Heads aren't ours, if that's what you mean. We have no idea where they came from either, but if it is truly our planet that produced them, I can assure you that we'll try to kill the origin of those monsters and contain the substance that helped their creation."

"Such noble words from someone who is too young to understand the power a planet may harvest. If it did come from Kanjis, the only way to stop it would be to destroy the world itself, thereby stopping the corrupt mechanisms it has bestowed upon you. Then again, whoever did it certainly knew the biology of the planet and its elements to do such a thing. This 'Dark Eco' is a byproduct of its contamination by someone among you; therefor it can only be saved via destruction."

Sentinel cut in, "Of course, you'd have to evacuate the planet first and lure the abominations on the other worlds back to their birth planet. As for the Dark Eco, it'll never be fully contained as long as it has life to feed on, plants, animals, other types of beings. That cannot be gotten rid of so easily."

Phantasmos glared at both, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, no! I'm not letting my planet die because it created those monsters! I'd rather kick them off and seal the problem another way, no matter how long it takes to find the other choice."

Alpha Trion shook his head in disagreement, "You are too young to understand this situation! If the time comes where drastic measures must be taken then so be it! We will not risk our world, our galaxy to protect only your kind. There are millions of planets in Andromeda. One planet is expendable especially if it harvests the very downfall that could be! We will give you time, but we can only give you so much before we must act with or without you."

The black and blue youngling was going to open his mouth to snap at the Elder but decided against it, for aggravating someone with power on their own planet was pretty much a death wish since others don't take to kindly to insulting such people. He thought for a second and simply nodded, "Very well, but before I leave Iacon, I need to see any information you have regarding any Metal Heads or Dark Eco. If I can see what you've picked up, I can start figuring out what other possible options there are before my planet must meet its fate."

Sentinel stepped aside and Alpha Trion gestured towards the tower entrance. When inside, the panels of information streamed madly as they passed each, sending various data, coordinates, and simple notes to their brethren across from one another like a vast family communicating. They had an eerie blue and purple appearance which reminded the dragon and the cat of their own screens back home.

"Ah lovely, my apprentice and archivist-in-training is here with us. Phantasmos, I'd like you to meet my student, Orion Pax."

All five younglings gazed in awe at the medium-built mech before them. He had a small, shy smile on his faceplates and seemed to be scrolling though data on what appeared to be a relic like the Star Saber, a legendary sword of the Primes. He recognized its image since his father used to tell of such stories about the Primes and showed what the items supposedly looked like. That was the Star Saber alright.

Orion bowed to the children before changing his data pad information to the recorded Dark Eco and Metal Head attacks. "I assume this is why you are here?"

Eclipse nodded and took the pad from the data clerk, letting NightHawk and Spike review it with her. Suddenly, the cat's expression went from normal boredom to salted confusion which didn't go unnoticed. "Sir, this says the Metal Heads' are in league with Megatronus Prime. How can that be?"

Sentinel grew angry at the one of the Thirteenths' name, "That blood traitor killed Solus Prime and his brothers! We think since those monsters are on Cybertron and they haven't gone after him yet, he may be helping them destroy us!"

Orion refused to say anything under the impression that his word would make matters worse. He just stared at Sentinel with his mouth semi-open. Occasionally, he peered to and from both Sentinel and the younglings.

"That's a huge accusation, Sentinel, even for a guardian who bears the same title," Phantasmos snarled.

The anger never ceased as the red and silver mech turned to the dragon in disgust, "You are in no position to talk down to me, boy. You may be a prince on your planet, but here, I am superior and you would be wise to remember the difference. As for the Metal Heads, whether they're with Megatronus or not, it isn't the true concern anyways. Megatronus has already dug a hole for himself that even he can't climb out of. With all he has done, I'm surprised nobody's committed homicide against him."

Alpha Trion wasn't listening to the whole pointless conversation. Instead, he called out a name that made Phantasmos and his crew curious. "Serpentine, you service is requested!"

A door on the opposite side opened and an angelic light green femme youngling walked over with a data pad of her own in hand. "How can I be of assistance, sir?" Her voice sounded innocent, too innocent for Eclipse's taste.

The Elder waved his hand toward the group of minors in front of him and said, "I need you to help these five to research a few things I think would be useful in their future endeavors." He handed her a pocket sized pad with encryptions the dragon or his crew could read.

She didn't smile but she also didn't frown either. What she was thinking wasn't decipherable and Phantasmos didn't want to inflict anything bad towards her whether it was mere words or actions. Slowly, she approached them with a simple statement, "Follow me, please."

After leaving Alpha Trion to deal with Sentinel and Orion taking his duties back to his station, she guided them through a network of data screens before reaching what they assumed was their destination when she stopped. "This is where you will find the information you desire. I can only show you so much, however, since I have limited access to such things."

"So, 'Serpentine' is it, how did you get a job here? I heard you have to have top-notch experience or connections to get this far," Spike muttered as he observed the data.

"My sire was, like you said, a connection. He works with both the Elite Guard and the Council. It pays well, but it wasn't what I originally wanted. I wanted to be an explorer, one of those bots who venture to exotic worlds and see things other could only dream about."

Draco smiled, "You know, we've just recently joined Prince and Princess Charming's royal crew. They manage the trade routes and whatnot. You could perhaps join if you want. We'd love more recruits for our scurvy crew."

Phantasmos eyed him with an inaudible growl but didn't reject the idea. He went back to searching the archives for more Metal Head and Dark Eco notes. He noticed in the corner of his optic Serpentine was actually considering it.

"Perhaps," she mused, "but I'd have to quit my job and the penalties for something like that are very high."

"Relax, Doll, as soon as you quit, we will hijack our ship back from the tower's hold and be on our way. It's as simple as that!" The blue seeker laughed.

Phantasmos, however, shook his head, "No, it's never that simple. If you quit and attempt to run, they'll lock down the entire campanile, leaving us trapped and at their mercy. You can't quit naturally; you'd have to betray your cause by leaving immediately after we're done and letting them label you as a traitor of Cybertron. You won't be able to return here until the heat of your warrant dies down with a new important matter. The decision is up to you. Once you leave and enter Kanjis, Cybertron's power no longer excels beyond the Space Bridge. You'll be free."

Serpentine scrolled through her profile in the archives, examining all of her achievements, her life among Cybertronians. With a press of a button, it was deleted. She turned to the younglings' captain with a faint but promising smile, "I'll do it."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: For now on, there will be deaths mentioned in each chapter, though most won't be too important. Tigressa's mind can no longer take reality anymore so this is the beginning of the Tigressa you know now, a blood-thirsty madman (or madwoman) who is lost in an endless void of destruction.<strong>

**First character death: Vanali! And a special cameo appearance by Orion Pax! Also, now you know how Phantasmos gets his crew of younglings. Two techno-organics, two seekers, and two grounders.**


	10. Adequate Delusions

"Remember that organic planet with the Sauropods? I believe I have another use for it," Tigressa mused.

Entity and Poltergeist were playing a betting game when she mentioned the serpent-like creatures. Eerily, they looked up at her, unsure on how to take her idea. The orange and black dragon grimaced, "You know if you keep disagreeing with Dad, karma may bite you in the aft when you least expect it."

The tiger-dragon raised brow didn't falter as she narrowed her optics. "Highly doubtful. Besides, what if I bite back?"

Neither of the two retorted on her comment. Instead, they went back to their competition. They paused again, however, when the doors to the Training Chamber opened and their sire entered.

"Tigressa," the elderly King motioned, "a word, if you please."

She hesitated but left with him and both took a walk into the silvery blue-planted Southern Gardens.

"Now, you are not in trouble but I need to know if you have any information regarding several new murders among the kingdom and its neighboring cities. A guard, who we finally found out was Vanali, was discovered torn to pieces with various body parts missing almost like he had been eaten. Who, in their right mind, would do that?"

The masculine femme hid her sadistic smirk as he continued.

"An entire family has been desecrated by teeth and claws and a nursery of sparklings, mere babies, have been brutally ripped apart. Whoever is behind these attacks will suffer greatly for doing such horrendous acts! Your mother is in tears, praying for this massacre to end. I mean sparklings, little innocent hatchlings, are now being targeted? Not even Megatronus would do such a thing."

This aroused the tiger-dragon's curiosity, "Megatronus is a loose cannon, Father, and he'll do whatever it takes to rise to power. Even Solus has declared him too unstable to be around his brothers and her as well. Then again, why aim for power; it has only a few good things to offer. Why not use your abilities to guide nature instead of taking it by force? Let yourself be one with it and thrive on what it has to bid between life and death. Fair rules, don't you think?"

Kronos growled before stopping their walk, "Do you have any notion of what you are suggesting? You think nature decided to play the cruel tyrant and give us those…those abominations to deal with that run wild on many planets today? It sounds to me you believe Vanali and the sparklings and the citizens of each world are being killed off because of natural selection! You think they are getting what they deserve!"

"I said no such thing," she hissed, "all I said is that someone may be letting nature take control once more and is helping it carry on its duty: to protect itself from anything it may consider a threat. Think about it, what do predators usually do when they find an unwanted visitor in their territory? They kill it, not because they want to but because they think whatever it is may be a potential threat. Nature has finally reached its limits so now it believes the intelligent inhabitants of each planet are a major threat to it, therefor it created something powerful enough to carry out its task of ridding itself of pests, us!"

King Kronos rubbed his temples while more smoke released from his nostrils, "And what about the animals? It seems nature also intends to extinguish the harmless, mindless animals that have been around longer than intelligent life. Why do you think that is? Surely, animals aren't pests either, are they?"

Tigressa opened her mouth to say something but shut it when no words came out.

The King didn't smile at his victory over her, "Tigressa, we aren't dealing with something nature created. We're facing something brought to life by a homicidal maniac who thinks he or she can simply take over with an army of ever-growing monsters that are rampaging out of control. What happens after they achieve what they wanted? What happens to the Metal Heads whom are built only to destroy and nothing else? If they keep continuing what they are doing, there will be no one to command, no place that isn't infested with their own creations, nobody from their kind to ever see again. They'll only trap themselves in their own madness and die trying to break free."

Peering down at the floor for a second, she replied, "What if that's what they want? What if all they want is to kill and watch the millions of worlds burn in their own customs each had praised long enough: tyranny, selfishness, pain…?"

This time, Prometheus was dead silent, no words attempting to leave as he understood her meaning. Finally, he said, "Then there's nothing we can do to stop them, not without killing them first which may prove extremely difficult since we can't even hurt their army."

* * *

><p>She couldn't say she wasn't surprised that he didn't freak out by her "knowing" that much about the Metal Heads' leader's plan, which the leader, of course, was her. Though technically, however, she never claimed the official title of such to keep her part in the galaxy-wide gridlock quiet, so she wasn't the Metal Head leader at the same time.<p>

At least he was blind to the truth, which saved her the mess of having to upstage him then and there. Dethroning him needed time and time could only tamed with patience. If the whole thing started now, she'd lose more than she would desire and that could lead to a devastating setback. Luckily, time was graciously on her side.

Tensas walked past with a toothy grin, nodding in approval which she assumed signified that Koana's memory has been successfully altered. After a few minutes, he joined her stroll back to the Training Chambers.

"Was your enlightening ordeal with your father finally solved?" He asked, letting his tail rattle in annoyance at a three-horned saber lynx that seemed to be stalking him hungrily.

"Yes, and no. The poor fool has no idea what awaits him. I have new projects I need to start and I don't want anybody snooping around my recent shipments of Precursor metal. Let's just say, if everything goes as planned, the Metal Heads will be unstoppable and my loyal followers will be untouchable."

The crocodile's smirk died down a bit, "Aren't they already?"

"It's best to make sure because you never know when someone may find a way to exploit their weakness and warn everyone else. I cannot take chances! If things don't go exactly as I need them to be, we'll all be dead and the future I promised you will be no more. Do you get it?"

He nodded with snarl. "Koana won't be a problem. That I can assure you, Master."

* * *

><p><em>As Tigressa left…<em>

Blossom watched from afar as Tigressa and King Kronos began their journey into the Southern Gardens. She looked sorely at Ghost who was across from her, peering down on the two as well. He was leaning against a post with his arms crossed, not happy about what he was seeing.

"Tigressa has become lost in her own delusions of power; she has forgotten her duty to surpass the darkness before it consumes both her and those she does not want to suffer. Her cause is as dead as her."

The green wolf narrowed her eyes in question, "Cause? What do you mean 'cause'? She isn't behind our dilemma, is she?"

The purple and black dragon sighed, "Tigressa is the creator of those wretched abominations! She's the one behind the attacks and she plans on destroying worlds with her army. She is no longer our sister, but our killer. If she continues with this, I fear our world, Cybertron, and even the new planet will be gone, ending all possible former and future life. Her mind is in shambles, darkened by her own greed."

"That can't be. She's helping us stop the Metal Heads."

"She's only fooling us. Metal Heads are expendable since there is so many of them, as well as knowledgeable; they know Tigressa is deceiving us and they are allowing her to go against them. Don't you get it? She's the villain; she's the Metal Head leader! If we don't stop her, the planets will most likely turn on each other, fall into her hands, and then die."

Blossom bowed her head in sorrow, "She wouldn't kill her own family, will she? What about Gemelo, her home?"

"If she gets her way, there may not be Gemelo left to defend nor rule," he hissed as he turned from the window and jumped to the ground.

"How did you figure this out?" The flowered femme asked, optics wide with terror.

Ghost growled, "After the Metal Heads began appearing and Tigressa's growing impatience, it wasn't that hard putting the pieces of this puzzle together, especially when Vanali was brutally murdered and her disappearance that night. No Metal Head has made it past the security walls surrounding the entire kingdom so the only logical answer was Tigressa herself."

* * *

><p>"Sephtis, I need a new favor from you. I cannot manage the Metal Heads and keep my sire off my aft at the same time so I ask, would you do me the honors of becoming the new Metal Head leader?"<p>

Sephtis grinned at her with two of his most loyal friends by his side. He bowed with no hesitation, "It would be my pleasure, my liege."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Guess who Kor is! Everybody's figuring out what Tigressa is doing but what ever will they do about it? Find out soon!<strong>


	11. Iacon Exodus

Phantasmos made copies of the data and uploaded it into his ship's database through a transmitter. As he was doing this, Spike and Draco watched for Alpha Trion and the other Cybertronians while NightHawk and Eclipse helped Serpentine get ready to book it to the vessel when their leader was done.

Multiple Kanjian and Cybertronian symbols flashed on his pad. Each foreign cyber pictogram had a Kanjian counterpart which roughly meant the Cybertronian information was being translated.

Phantasmos smirked as his pad signaled it has sent everything successfully. Unhooking it from the main computer, he activated his ship via comm. link. On cue, Draco motioned that someone was coming. Nodding, he said, "Time's up. Rally up the girls and head for the ship. I'll distract whoever it is."

He passed Spike as the grounder headed towards where the femmes were. "I suggest you accompany him if you want to assure they make it to the ship without complications," he uttered as he stood by the blue seeker's side.

Draco hesitated but obliged, leaving the black and blue dragon to deal with the stranger.

"Did you find what you wanted?" A naïve voice asked.

Phantasmos didn't smile at the young archivist but had to agree. "Orion, I have what I need but I am afraid I must go immediately whether Alpha Trion likes it or not."

Orion frowned, "You have to consult him before leaving otherwise there will be consequences."

"I know," he hissed.

Suddenly, his comm. link lit up with a familiar voice. "Alright, Boss, your crew is all on board, but there are Iacon guards staring us down right now. They may be on to us so I'd hurry and get out of there before they communicate with big, bad Prime and make him check on you. Deal with the guest and scram or we'll all be stuck on this Primus-forsaken planet!"

"Acknowledged," he breathed before closing the link. He turned back to Orion, "In advance, I'm terribly sorry."

Orion stood there confused until a fist collided with his faceplates and he found himself flying backwards into one of the data consoles, shattering the screens. He faded into unconsciousness mere seconds after impact.

Instantly, Phantasmos ran, avoiding glancing back at the knocked out data clerk as weak but meaningful alarms began sounding. He knew what they signified: broken console or data breach. Either one meant someone was bound to be an intruder and since he was a foreign Transformer, he figured they will believe he is the prime suspect along with his juvenile friends. Alpha Trion was not going to be pleased.

All screens turned red, locking all information and freezing the stream promptly. The dragon jumped through a sealing door before bolting to the nearest window. When he climbed through, it shut as well, leaving him on a platform edge. He reluctantly peered down to see vehicles of all sorts on the highways as well as Cybertronian police surrounding the building.

Apparently, they did guess it was him. He could see the tiny armor-clad figures shove through the entrance which was invisible to him. They were angry and determined almost like the Kanjian Guards.

He frantically looked around to find a bigger stretch of platform but all were the same small length and width. His ship, however, was somewhat visible from where he stood; its wings held the reflection of Cybertron's sun which was beginning to drop below skyscraper level. How he was going to get over there would prove to be a challenge with no way to step from window sill to window sill.

Wait, step? He didn't need to maneuver his way over. He had wings for crying out loud! He smiled as he shifted his armor parallel to his shoulders and spine to reveal his light blue-membrane annexes. Slowly, he opened them, feeling the air tickle the newly exposed metal and the warmth of the setting sun awakening numb nerves. It felt wonderful to have them out after months of concealment. It was almost like they've never seen the light of day before and were freshly made. The question still remained though: did he remember how to function with them and will his wings work after being cooped up for so long? Time to find out.

He found it hard not to look at the ground which wasn't helping his grip on the window sides loosen. He hadn't done this for so long, it felt surprisingly unnatural. His pede claws didn't give way either, preventing him from falling both willingly and unwillingly. He needed to let go someday. Finally, he let his mind relax before his hold softened and sent him tumbling down to the surface.

Panic began to set in when his wings didn't want to catch the wind almost like it was denying the air it was offered. Phantasmos breathed rapidly as ground floor was coming fast though it seemed like forever. "Come on! Come on! You can do this!"

Suddenly, the wind picked up and he felt himself lift upward. Using that to his advantage, he began pumping his wings up and down before letting himself glide above the buildings he managed to evade. Keeping his arms curled up to his chest, legs falling next to his tail, and his tail horizontal, he swerved high, observing the city running overtime and the lights of structures coming to be because of the dying sunlight fading into the distance. Flapping some more to keep his position steady, he drifted to do a U-turn to head back to Iacon Tower to his awaiting vessel and crew.

The sensation of flying filled his mind with a lost feeling he had forgotten about for such a long time. He felt weightless, immortal like nothing could stop him and he could maintain this life until the end of time. A good ambiance but it would have to cease till he was back on Kanjis. His concentration changed back to his original task, pushing the beautiful impression aside.

Cybertronian forces, and a furious bastard who carried the title of "Prime", had his personal craft surrounded, some even being rude by using warning shots on its bow. Well, to be honest, they were even now. He damaged a valuable data console and they're lighting up on his ship, both can be repaired though one's going to need a reboot and clerks to reinstall lost archives. He noticed in the corner of the cockpit, not visible to the guards, Draco crouched armed in case any of their units decided to break into the vessel.

"Hey, where are you!?" His comm. link screamed, "We're taking hits and judging by how many rounds are in your hull, this baby may have slight difficulties getting airborne. We need you, o Knight in Shining Armor."

Phantasmos heard more shots ricocheting off the metal and glass. Draco's voice yelled again as the streak of blasts ended for the moment, "Hey, Prince Charming, here's a tip: get your ass over here before we're all royally screwed and I decided to get trigger happy on you!"

For some obvious reason, he just wanted to leave the blue seeker in the hands of the pissed off Sentinel Prime and laugh as he and the remaining crew sailed away scar free. Then again, that would be against his code of honor. It was still a funny thought, and a suitable punishment for patronizing the one mech who knew how to fly the Phoenix Sitara and knew how to escape Cybertron without ending up a pile of rubble above the atmosphere.

Scouting his options, he observed how Sentinel never looked back nor up; he was fixed on the Phoenix and nothing more which left his backside vulnerable as well as his senses only focused on his friends, henceforth, he wouldn't recognize nor pay any mind to the dragon's own scent and appearance. Perfect.

After hovering over the police mechs and their superior for a second, Phantasmos dived downward, his wings folding to his chassis to increase speed. The impact in which he hit the Prime made him short of breath and when he stood to recover over the cataleptic leader, his vision was nearly all white but he could note the outlines of blasters being aimed at him. He blinked several times while holding his head before he knew he didn't think out his plan entirely.

"Um…hey, boys! Can't settle this like civilized bots?" The dragon mused with a short, improvised laugh.

The blue-optics police didn't lower their weapons which made his fake smile quickly deteriorate. As they closed in, he heard his ship's cockpit open. "Yo, slag-eaters!"

All the mechs, including a bewildered Phantasmos, turned to the origin of the insult with scowls. Their eyes widened when they saw a box of grenades in NightHawk's arms and one being tossed up and down in Draco's servo carelessly. The latter grinned evilly, "Taste this!"

Everyone took cover as the jet threw the bomb. Just as it hit the ground and stopped rolling with its timer running, Sentinel awakened, only to be face to face with the explosive. "Oh sh…!" The Prime couldn't finish his sentence as a flash of light emitted and the dock shook on a great magnitude nearly sending several hidden guards toppling over the edge.

When the dust from the crater, which now had a thin layer of metal supporting its base from exposing the city streets below, Sentinel had slammed against a wall, oozing cuts littered his faceplates, but he was still very much alive though unconscious once again. Seeing his chance to leave, the dragon made a break for the ship, closing the cockpit upon entry.

As he ensured their safety from the forces outside, he received several hit on his back, congratulating him on a job well done. Knowing that there was still more to come, he sat in the pilot's seat and activated every essential part of the vessel. When everyone was seated as well, he flipped a few switches before lifting the Phoenix Sitara off the wrecked dock.

More blasts grazed the poor ship's underside but soon those bullets were the least of their problems. In the distance, swerving through the buildings, three big battle cruisers were making their way towards them.

"I don't suppose your dinky little starship has weaponry powerful enough to take on these bad boys!?" Spike said as he stared fearfully into the shaded window of the nearest enemy cruiser.

"Also, can you outrun them?" Serpentine questioned.

Phantasmos knew their chances were slim without a fight and the Phoenix wasn't built to withstand cruiser firepower. They might as well try. Under pressure, he flew in front of one of them and at the last second, pulled away which made the larger craft veer off to the side in a panic, almost hitting the side of a building in the process.

"Getting ballsy, are we?"

"Shut up, or I'll slam on the brakes and we'll see what they'll do," the dragon growled.

He heard his companion growl back but not retort in any way. Suddenly, the vessel jolted and a warning signal emerged. Their pursuers were angry. He noted the damage but didn't stop. Two of the cruisers were trailing on his tail, not willing to lose them. They were stubborn, but he was more persistent.

Weaving under bridges and zipping past blockades with ease, Phantasmos led one of the two into a row of hoops on the bridge that attached to the Iacon Tower. The Phoenix Sitara went through it just fine but the first cruiser lost its wings. All of the ship's crew was now just a rolling fireball doomed to collapse onto the road below the bridge. Those poor citizens; then again, they weren't Kanjis' inhabitants so they weren't much of a big loss.

The second cruiser fishtailed when the smaller vessel navigated the first away, separating them and almost making the second crash into a construction site. Now that it had sight of its enemy once more, it was determined to keep its target in its range.

"Hate to break it to you, Big Boss, but Cyber-Craft 2 is gaining and it's looking for blood," Draco mused.

"That's fine. If it wants to avenge its twin, it's more than welcome to if it can catch us."

"You don't care if you die, do you?"

Phantasmos smirked, "Nope."

The second cruiser swerved and rammed the side of his vessel, aiming to put in a permanent tailspin. However, thankfully, some buildings got in the way so both starships had to separate which gave Phantasmos enough time to counter the cruiser's next move. When the line of structures ended, the cruiser tried once again to strike at the smaller ship only to find it no longer there. The crew members inside were confused until a rain of blasts came from above, chipping part of its Energon fuel line that was located on the cruiser's starboard.

"Try and kill me, huh?" The dragon narrowed his optics as he noticed where the cruiser's weak points were. Instantly, he fired missiles at them and within seconds, the second cruiser was scattered across the community.

The third and last major cruiser was nowhere to be seen. That made Phantasmos suspicious. Carefully, he pulled up, heading directly for the atmosphere where Kanjis' Space Bridge floated in orbit along with the Bridges to Velocitron, Helivan, and other worlds. As they left Cybertron, the dragon stopped the ship to hover near his Bridge but he didn't activate it.

"Well, congratulations brother, you've just killed about seventeen or more Cybertronians. We're officially banned from Cybertron and now there's probably a warrant for us in which if we go back, we'll be tried and executed. Lovely way of saying goody-bye to Alpha Trion and his planet," Eclipse mocked.

Phantasmos just sat in his chair, elbow on the control pad and his head in his servo.

Spike was looking out the passenger window at the small, faint lights in the black sky. He smiled when he saw the spiral arm of Andromeda nearby. "You think that we'll know everything in a million years more?"

NightHawk turned off the gravity in the vessel and lay with her legs crossed and her arms behind her head as she drifted from her seat. "No, there will always be mysteries out there, one's we can't nor ever will solve. I'd say certain things are better left alone because if we were to chase such things, we'll end up hurting ourselves as well as other species. We'll probably kill other species too, but people like Alpha Trion keep the idea of exploration G-rated so we're inspired to do it. We can't say bad things like that to future generations of Transformers otherwise there won't be new explorers."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure telling children 'hey, it's okay to explore new worlds; you'll be able to find new things as well as kill new species to claim them' isn't the best thing to do. It'll spawn future rebels trying to protect new planets and life, but it will scar them if they knew how cruel even their parents can be to life on a world that has valuable items. It amazes me how greedy and monstrous we can be," Serpentine sarcastically replied.

"Quiet, all of you. Something's not right. There was a third cruiser and it's nowhere to be seen. I don't trust this silence of space one bit," Phantasmos snarled.

"It probably retreated when it saw its two buddies crash and burn."

"No, Cybertronian Air-Hawk Cruisers are not permitted to let someone go. It's either return with the suspects or go as far as you can to attempt to get them. We were visible from any point when we came up here so the cruiser knows we're here or they were alerted. Either way, they know; they aren't here."

Phantasmos switched the gravity back on, noting NightHawk and Spike clashing with the ground since both were floating either upside down or near the ceiling. Draco and Serpentine landed perfectly.

The dead silence was threatening to say the least. On Kanjis, it was considered scarier to not know where your enemies were than to meet them face to face and get killed. The silence was broken when the scanners began picking up several energy signatures.

"Um…I think we should've gone through our Space Bridge instead of waiting here because that cruiser is back with more reinforcements," Draco said as he poked at the thick glass.

For once, Phantasmos felt at a loss for words. He was wrong about the cruiser but at the same time, he was right. He waited too long and misjudged his enemies. Even he forgot that it was best to call in assistance when someone was too troublesome to handle. Thinking on his options, there was only one he could really do. It was the first time he didn't have more than one strategy; he felt frail like his mind had given up on him.

"Boss!?" Draco cried.

He frantically peered at all the buttons on his console and looked back at the screen that showed the fleet of Cybertronians.

"Phantasmos!" Eclipse yelled.

His mind snapped. Instinctively, he hit the button that sent a message to his home world to awaken the Space Bridge. In response, the Bridge's sides began to glow before the middle erupted in a blue-green vortex. He punched in a few codes as he took off towards it, the cruiser and its battalion following.

The Phoenix Sitara began to shake as it entered, swiftly feeding off the energy of the portal to maintain velocity and precision. Luckily, their pursuers couldn't fire upon them inside the Bridge without risking their shots absorbing energy and exploding everything within the vortex. All they could do was trail the vessel until they successfully reached the other teleporting end. The Bridge was already probably strained by how many entities it was transporting; a blast could also be enough to trigger an output to an unwanted destination. Pretty much, they were screwed if someone decided to be an impatient dick.

Finally in a blinding light followed by sudden darkness, Kanjis was visible. Its mint-blue plant life glowed magnificently in both shades of night and day. The night portion of the planet had light blue markings that were the collected energies the plants gave off only in darkness. Together, they formed a series of web-like designs over the world, encasing it in stunning patterns.

Sight-seeing would have to wait again. Phantasmos discarded his small smile and focused on getting the ship through the planet's atmosphere. It was a bumpy ride but they made it. He landed near one of the green rivers that met with the main Diango River that led to Gemelo's free-formed forest. He waited beside his craft until the Cybertronian starships landed and the femme Captain of the third cruiser stepped out.

"What you have done is a violation of the planet of Cybertron. You are also accountable for: damage of property, attacking a member of Iacon, resisting arrest, attempt of assassination of a Prime, illegal kidnapping, and harboring criminals. There are more charges against you since I have lost two of my cruisers and their crew plus the lives of the people the wreckages may have destroyed," the Captain scowled with guards pointing their weapons at the younglings.

Phantasmos smirked, "I take responsibility for all those charges, except the assassination part, because that was Draco, the kidnapping, because Serpentine came on free will, and harboring 'criminals' simply because my friends are not fugitives; they are orphans who had no choice but to steal to make a living. Oh and this just escaped my mind, technically you can't arrest me. I'm on my home planet and you are the foreigners now, therefor you are out of your zone of jurisdiction and I can press charges against you. I am a free mech and all my friends are no longer your concern. They are Kanjis' problem now so I decide what happens to them."

"You cannot do that!"

"Prince, remember, Captain? I have authority on this world, you do not. Besides, who do you think the Council of Kanjis will believe? Me…or you?"

The Captain of the cruiser shut her mouth. She couldn't retaliate with anything without it being used against her. She looked to the ground before turning back to her large vessel, "Very well then. But, you best not even think about showing your face around Cybertron, Prince, or those charges and my power will return in full capacity."

The dragon narrowed his optics, still heaving the toothy grin, "I wouldn't make threats yet, dear Captain. Save it for when I do decide to revisit. I'll be sure to greet you first."

With that, the Captain went back to her ship and took off, leaving a group of joyful, free younglings to celebrate their victory.

"Well override my circuits and clone me, you actually did this!" Spike laughed, "We are free bots, ladies and gentlemen; I think we owe our own captain a life debt best paid by helping him with his future antics and adventures. Don't you think?"

All nodded while Phantasmos kept his optics trained on the dawning sky. "There always will be more to come, whether we seek it or let it come to us. You are all ready to face the challenges this world and many others can present. I am honored to service you as your leader."

Serpentine hugged Spike who grew stiff from the gesture while NightHawk peered up to the now reopened Space Bridge that had several black dots move through it before closing once more. "By the way, 'my liege', what ever happened to your Guards?"

The dragon's smirk dropped instantly. He had left them on Cybertron. In response, he face palmed.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Phantasmos is a lucky bastard. The younglings won't return until later because when they come back to Kanjis, something bad has already happened that has not technically appeared yet. there will be several chapters on its events.<strong>


	12. Scout of War

"King Kronos, sir, multiple enemy targets in bounds!"

Prometheus looked over the railing of the platform and saw many dark creatures running towards the shield walls from only one location. He gawked at the sight for a second before growling, "Prevent them from getting inside the city at all cost! Protect my people! Go now!"

Slamming his fist onto the rail, he unleashed his sword while Guards prepared the multi-barreled cannons for a counter attack. He placed a pede upon the ledge before hoisting himself up to stand on it. Instantly, he jumped off grabbing the roof of the nearest tower and slowing his fall until he leapt to another. Several times he did this until he landed onto the shield wall's balcony that stretched endlessly with the wall itself.

"Sir, you do realize you just damaged your own buildings, right?" A Guard asked as he helped one of the cannons pinpoint their intend targets.

"I don't care about my citadel! I care about my citizens! The kingdom can always be rebuilt, lives, however, cannot. Do not let your personal concern for mere objects let my kingdom's inhabitants suffer; if you think a building is more precious than a family, you are welcome to go down to greet those monsters and hope that, in return for your care of them, those buildings will help you."

The Guard was taken aback. Hesitantly, while others listened with interest, he nodded, "Yes, sir. I'll take note of that carefully."

Kanjian Guards lined up the cannons with their enemies' position, waiting for the order to fire. When they saw Kronos raise his hand in a fist, each squeezed the handles that held the triggers. When he opened his servo, a loud synced boom erupted and bullets rained down upon the Metal Heads.

To all of their disliking, only a few Metal Heads dropped dead, the rest continued on, set to kill and kill only. When one blast knocked a creature back, two more replaced it to strengthen their offense.

Suddenly, a Metal Head leapt onto the balcony and bit a Guard as it landed. The creature then turned to the King but met its fate as the mech brought his weapon down on its skull gem. The Guard who received the bite began twisting madly where he stood.

Kronos tried to approach him but could only watch as spikes morph into his armor and the grey protoform of his face turn dark blue with faded black spots. His tail went rigid as the transformation continued. When it stopped, a huge metal monster now stood where the Guard once did; a yellow skull gem placed on its chest. Four golden eyes caught sight of the beings lurking among the cannons and it let out a roar.

Kronos stood his ground before the creature made his way towards him. It clamped its jaws down upon the sword as the weapon was lifted to block the attack. The King struggled with it, attempting to push it back as shook its head, trying to rip the blade from his hands.

Before it had the chance to strike in their predicament, it exploded in front of Prometheus and behind its desecrated form, a cannon was aimed directly at its back. The cannon's control just sat there, shocked by the sudden events. He didn't need to be asked why he had such a reaction; the Guard who became a Metal Head was his friend. He had just lost a comrade that had been with him throughout their entire career as a Guard.

Several shakes from the wall getting hit interrupted the sad realization. The creatures were ramming their heads against the blockade, eagerly wanting in. Another wave of blasts followed. Kronos knew they couldn't hold out like this forever. The legion wouldn't tire like they would; they'd keep on bombarding the wall for as long as they were alive.

"Corporal, get Tigressa and the others! We need a new strategy and they are the only ones who can figure something out in time!"

The Corporal bowed before him and ran to fetch the leaders.

The Metal Heads continued their assault on the wall, occasionally trying to climb it only to be knocked down again by the cannons. Then the bigger dark creatures appeared.

Mammoth dragon-like Heads moved slowly across the field, leaving deep footprints within the soil and crumpled blue grass. Its' armor repelled the cannon fire as if it was a mere flick upon their bulky, scarred forms. They bellowed deeply whenever a blast hit their faceplates but none stopped their march. Any smaller Metal Heads that accidently wandered too close were crushed by the three-clawed feet of the giants.

"Sir, we have a bigger problem!" The Corporal said as he slowed down to catch his breath.

"Well, where are they!?"

"The Palace…is swarming with those creatures! They must've found a way into the underground chambers! Your children are currently keeping them at bay, and we've already evacuated the Kingdom. Your wife is fighting alongside Demon and Poltergeist."

Shocked eyes turned to ones embedded with fury, "The only way to those passageways underground is sealed unless someone from the inside opened it, let them in, and led them through it to the kingdom itself! Was anybody sighted with them?"

"No, sir."

* * *

><p>"Ahhh…Firefox! Aim at them, not me! NOT ME!" Entity screamed as he rubbed his sore aft and tail that now had scorch marks on it.<p>

The red femme raised a hand to her mouth with an "O" expression but nodded and returned to an animal-like pose. She puffed out her chest before a stream of orange lighting inside her jetted upward. Immediately, fire ejected from her mouth, engulfing a few Metal Grunts and setting walls of fire near the broken hole that the creatures were pouring out of.

In front of her once again, Entity stood his ground before grabbing a Metal Head's gaping jaws, pushing the creature back. It struggled by twisted itself to the side, attempting to loosen his grip but it found he was only angered by the movement. The black and orange dragon forced its head to be facing the ceiling before his own body glowed with the same orange illumination. The creature tried to wiggle free but his hold proved too powerful and it froze when it felt molten plasma being fired down its throat. It ceased its actions when Entity stopped and placed a pede against its form before ripping its head from its body, letting the helm fall to the floor once he was confident it was dead.

He huffed as more Metal Heads appeared, each drooling saliva at the thought of food which he assumed was him. The blast he had produced took too much energy than he anticipated and left him leaning on his knee plates to recuperate. Despite this, he activated his guns and yelled at them, "Come on, I'm a full-course meal! Let's see if you can earn fine dining tonight!"

The yellow-skull gemmed creatures somewhat gave toothy grins towards him before snarling. They all sprinted at him, bloodlust filling their corrupted minds.

In another hall, Queen Kiara fought side by side with Kalypso and ElectroHyena, metal maxi dress-like appendages flexing to accommodate her elegant actions. Her swords hit a Rozarian-like Metal Head with undeviating force, breaking guts loose from their bodily protector. She brought one of the blades down upon a fallen Head when it met the end of her elbow as she turned around.

"Mama's still got it, isn't that right?" She smirked cockily.

ElectroHyena dodged a blow from a larger creature. "Yeah, though I'd hate to be on the receiving end…," she blasted the Head away from her after ducking a swipe, "…of your ferocity!"

The grey, black, and yellow femme jumped up as two Metal Heads pounced and did the splits, socking both in the face with her pedes. The two flew backwards and tumbled into the walls like ragdolls. "Hey, Kalie, need your mumbo jumbo right now! I sure could use a laugh."

Kalypso slit a few throats of the creatures before peering toward her older sister, "I'm busy, Electro, ask your twin to help you if you need a laugh. My abilities are not your entertainment! Besides, why don't you just shock them; that'll bring a smile to your face."

The raccoon techno-organic snapped her fingers in the face of once of the enemies, earning an instant laugh from the other sister. The surrounding Metal Heads just gazed at their friend, confused as it waddled by. They didn't know whether to attack it or not. The swaying Head was no longer in its normal state, but rather a small duck-like animal with a metallic blue coloring and a tiny skull gem on its head. It quacked irritably as it sprinted away from the femmes.

Turning back to the girls, the Metal Heads shifted uncomfortably until Kalypso snapped twice more. Two of the creatures practically vanished except their armor appeared to be floating while another was defying gravity, trying desperately to get down as it slowly drifted toward the ceiling. The semi-invisible Metal Heads found themselves attacked by the others in mere seconds. Blood poured from their clear bodies. Apparently, the other creatures felt threatened by the two, tricked into thinking they were Guards.

"Poor babies," the Queen muttered.

"We're your babies! Don't take pity on them; they're not exactly the nice guys here," the hyena scolded.

Kiara gave her a sideways glance as the Metal Head troops began fighting among one another.

* * *

><p>Tigressa saw her younger sister, Blossom, fly backwards with a Metal Head pushing her. The flowered wolf quickly did a barrel roll before lifting her arm upward. The motion brought forth a root of a tree with the width of two Guards to shoot up from the floor and wrap around the furious Head. Entangled and limited, the creature succumbed as it realized it could do nothing to overthrow the plant.<p>

As Tigressa battled and chopped down Metal Heads, she silently whispered, "Sorry, sweeties. Mama's very sorry."

They couldn't quite hear her but they knew her intentions were true. As each met their fate, they couldn't hold back a slight smirk on their ugly features. They knew there was a surprise coming for Kanjis. They were patient, even in death.

"Tigressa! What the hell is this!? You had no right to change the rules…"

"I had every right! My beautiful monsters need to see what they are up against to plan and conquer. Besides, I didn't let them in; that was someone else's doing."

The Rozarian Captain snarled, "Do your brothers and sisters know this? I know some have already figured out it was you who created these abominations, but do the rest?"

"No, that information is solidified within Ghost, Demon, and Blossom only. When the time comes, I'll tell the others. I made the three a deal that I wouldn't attack any more sparklings if they kept their mouths shut. So far, our deal is in play. I can assure you, everything is going according to plan," Tigressa smiled.

"You do know they will mutiny in time, right?"

The tiger-dragon swung a Metal Head over herself into a window, shattering it and letting the creature fall. "I know. I wouldn't expect any different."

She silently put two fingers next to her ear. Instantly, all the dark monsters paused, some occasionally giving a short bellow, before they suddenly ran off. The remaining Metal Heads crawled back through the holes to the underground with Guards chasing after them. The Heads at the shield wall did the same but retreated back to the wilderness with the slow mammoth creatures following.

"What did you just do?" Silos raised a brow.

"I called them to go back. I believe my father has seen my warning. This attack was a mere small example of what is to come soon. Next time, I won't say a thing against it and see how long big daddy can hold the waves of Metal Heads breaching his kingdom and killing its citizens. Let us see what he thinks, shall we?"

Captain Silos turned his head to the side at the remark, scowling but keeping mute.

Despite the holes that led to the underground labyrinth sitting openly unguarded inside the Palace, the damage was something more fearful. The wall had newly made entrances every five hundred feet because apparently, those titan-class Metal Heads just crashed through it like a tool hits glass. The Palace itself suffered enough; the inside was torn apart in the halls and set ablaze, thanks to Firefox.

Luckily, much to Tigressa's despise, no casualties were reported. The citizens were okay but some of the Guards fell victim to the attack.

King Kronos, however, was stressed beyond comprehension. Outraged, he stomped past all his children and his mate, not even sharing a glance with them. The Guards and the royalty just stood there in awkward silence. They all heard the doors to the throne room close loudly in which some of them winced.

"So…that went better than expected," Blossom cheerily mused.

All helms turned towards her and the awkward moment turned even more dreadful.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yep, Tigressa's getting pretty ballsy right now. Oh and the term "Scout of War" is part of a level sequence that will make sense as more battles come into being. There's "Scout of War", "Warrior of War", "PrincePrincess of War", "King/Queen of War", and "God/Goddess of War". All these terms will be used as well as the ones that have two possible wordings. The "Prince" and "Princess" will switch views of characters as well as the last two terms. You'll see why later on.**


End file.
